Recipe For Love
by blackrose1002
Summary: Kurt Hummel is one of the best chefs in New York City. Working in a prestigious restaurant, he had himself convinced that he has everything he had ever wanted, but, suddenly, the life he had built for himself completely falls apart when his brother dies in the car accident, leaving his eight year old daughter behind.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone!**

 **It's January 9th today which means it's not only been a year since season 6 of _Glee_ aired, but it's also been a year since I started posting my first fic _Burn With You_. To celebrate this anniversary - here's the new fic! **

**A few words about it. I wrote it for a NaNoWriMo 2015 and I'm really proud of it, so I really can't wait to know your opinions about it.**

 **The fic is based on a movie _No Reservations._ It follows the plot pretty closely, but there are some scenes that I came up with by myself, to make it more interesting, longer and more Klainish. I also borrowed quite a lot of quotes from the movie - they were simply too brilliant to try and replace them with my own words.**

 **The fic is complete and I'll do my best to update every Saturday :D**

 **I think that's all, so there we go, enjoy! A big thank you to Ida, my beta, and to Anna, for constantly cheering on me.**

 **I don't own _Glee_ , Klaine or the movie _No Reservations._**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"I need those lobsters like _yesterday_ , where are they?" Kurt Hummel shouted in the general direction of the cooks, grabbing the plates with carpaccio and the lamb and setting them on the counter for the server to pick them up. "Quinn, take care of the quails, also, we have an order for two tasting menus."

"Yes, chef." His sous-chef replied, checking on the quails, maneuvering around the kitchen quite gracefully for a woman that was eight months pregnant. Kurt turned back to the cooks, just in time to receive the lobsters from one of them, and walked to the table to put the final touches and decorations on the plate. He was just about to draw the last pattern with the sauce, when his boss, the owner of the restaurant, came up to him.

"Kurt, the Richardsons are here, they say you're brilliant and want to thank you in person." Tina Cohen-Chang said, looking at him expectantly.

"Thank you, Tina, but the kitchen is the place that needs my brilliance." Kurt said, not tearing his eyes away from the lobsters.

"Come on, Kurt, just go and say hi, they're some of my best customers." She said and walked away, making Kurt huff in annoyance, as he finished the decoration and handed the plates over to the server.

While untying his apron, he looked over his sous-chef's shoulder. "Quinn, be careful with the quails, don't cook them too long or they…"

"Or they'll get tough, I know." Quinn Fabray interrupted with a smile.

"No, dry, they'll get dry." Kurt said. "And I get tough when they're dry." He added with a smirk, walking in the direction of the kitchen door. When he reached the Richardsons, they couldn't stop complimenting him, promising to come back next week, as always, Mrs. Richardson joking that if her husband hadn't been straight, he probably would have left her for Kurt a long time ago. Kurt shook their hands with a smile and watched the old couple walk out of the restaurant, wondering if they knew that he, in fact, was actually gay. He was on his way back to the kitchen when he overheard the exchange between Tina and one of the customers.

"I'm just saying, this is not cooked properly." The guy sitting at table nine said, gesturing at his plate.

"May I ask what is this about?" Kurt asked, calmly walking up to the table, even though his insides were on fire.

"I'll handle this." Tina said and Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but the customer forestalled him.

"Oh, you're the chef, right?" He asked and, seeing Kurt nod, he continued. "Look, this foie gras hasn't been cooked long enough." He said, basically shoving the plate in Kurt's face.

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked, looking at him unbelievingly, taking the plate to take a closer look at it. One glance told him all that he needed to know.

"Let me get you a different one, on the house." He heard Tina say and looked at her incredulously.

"No. My foie gras is cooked perfectly." He said, giving the plate to his boss and glaring at the customer.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, honey. Even the best stumble over foie gras." The guy said, smirking annoyingly, making Kurt see red.

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's precisely _comme il faut_."

The customer looked at him, slightly taken aback, but recovered quickly. "And what is that supposed to mean?" He asked with a laugh, probably trying the mask the fact that he had no idea what he was talking about.

" _Comme il faut_? As it should be. Hundred and forty degrees in the oven, eighty degrees water temperature, for twenty-five minutes, not too long, not too short, with the perfect touch of pink. _Honey._ " Kurt gritted out the last word through clenched teeth, glaring deadly at the other man.

"That's it, we're leaving." The man said, getting up and storming out, his date following right behind. Kurt took a deep breath and turned around, heading to the kitchen, walking past a furious looking Tina.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" She asked, following him into the kitchen. "You can't act like that every time someone doesn't like your food!"

"Oh, please." Kurt rolled his eyes. "He was a Neanderthal."

"Okay, but a paying one!" Tina exclaimed. "If he says it's not cooked enough, then it's not! I swear, if you weren't one of the best chefs in the city, I would so fire you tonight." She said, pointing at him angrily and storming out of the kitchen.

" _One_ of the best? What's that supposed to mean?" Kurt called after her and looked around when he got no response. "She's just saying that to annoy me." He muttered. "Right?" He asked the other cooks as he walked up to take the food from them, looking at them expectantly.

"Whatever you say, chef." They all agreed in unison, well used to that kind of drama, and knowing better than to cross Kurt Hummel. He grinned, satisfied with their response, and got back to work, almost immediately forgetting about the unpleasant encounter.

The rest of evening passed uneventfully, at least as uneventfully as it was considered at _Le Palais_. Sure, there were some broken plates, some blood, a few threats from Kurt here and there, but nothing special. Just a usual day at work. Effortlessly following the routine he developed through the years, Kurt got to his apartment before midnight, glad to finally be home. Not bothering to turn the light on, headed to the bedroom, and soon enough, he was lying in his big bed, on the verge of falling asleep. Sometimes, not very often, but from time to time, he had this brief moment when he wondered if he wasn't feeling lonely. But then he remembered the restaurant, his kitchen, his kingdom and how hard he had worked for all of this, and then that feeling always went away. He had everything he had dreamed of. He didn't need anything else.

* * *

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Kurt groaned loudly at the sound of the alarm clock, being pulled out of a very nice dream by the annoying sound. He opened his eyes and turned it off, glaring deadly at the clock for a few seconds and he was honestly surprised it didn't catch on fire right there. Mumbling incoherent curses under his breath, he got up and tiredly dragged himself to the bathroom.

No matter how long he'd been doing this and how much he loved and enjoyed his job, waking up at 4:30am to go to the fish market was something he would probably never get used to.

Fortunately, meeting up with his favorite and regular suppliers had put him in a far better mood. He managed to get some beautiful fresh lobsters, few boxes of seabass and sole, but what made him the happiest was the batch of golden tilefish. When Bob, one of the fishermen, opened the box and showed the fish to him, Kurt almost started squealing in excitement, but, thankfully, he managed to restrain himself and preserve his dignity. After scheduling the deliveries to the restaurant, Kurt said goodbye to the fishermen, thanking them again, and headed back home. He didn't have to go to work for the next few hours, so he busied himself with cleaning his apartment and coming up with the grocery list – his brother and niece were coming later that day and staying for a few days, and Kurt was really looking forward to it. He missed Finn and he hadn't seen little Emily in so long – well, not so little anymore since she was about to turn nine in March. He was just about to start making some lunch when his cell phone rang. _Speaking, or rather thinking, of the devil,_ Kurt thought when Finn's picture showed up on his screen, and picked up the phone.

"Hey, bro, it's me." Finn's voice sounded through the phone and Kurt rolled his eyes. No matter how many times he told him to, his brother had never stopped calling him that, but, to be honest, it had kind of grown on him.

"Hey there, how's the road?" He asked, walking around the kitchen and pulling out ingredients.

"Not that bad, we should probably be there around nine."

"Great, I'll make sure to be back by then."

"Cool. Anyway, what are you doing?" His brother asked. "Wait, let me guess – reading a recipe, right?"

Kurt froze above the cookbook that was lying on the counter. "I do have other interests, you know."

"Name one." Finn laughed, and Kurt could also hear another laugh accompanying him.

"How's Emily?" He asked and could imagine Finn shaking his head at his not so subtle change of subject.

"Cute. She's changed so much since the last time you saw her, you have no idea."

"Can't wait to see her." Kurt said truthfully. "So, what do you want for dinner?"

"Oh, don't worry about us; we'll just grab some pizza or burgers on our way."

"Finn, I think you've known me long enough to realize that it's not an option." Kurt said, trying to sound stern, but knowing his brother could hear the smile in his voice. "What does Emily like?"

"Man, she eats anything, I swear, she definitely took after me in that department." Finn said with a laugh. "She's like a tiny, adorable vacuum cleaner."

"Dad!" Kurt heard Emily yell in the background and smiled. He really couldn't wait to see them.

"Okay, guys, I gotta go, but call me when you get closer, alright?" He said.

"Will do. Say bye to Uncle Kurt, Em." Finn replied and then Emily's voice sounded from the background. "Bye, Uncle Kurt!"

After they hung up, Kurt stood still for a second, with a soft smile on his face, and then resumed what he had been doing before he was interrupted. Between the phone call, cleaning and cooking, the time flew, and before Kurt even realized, it was time to go to work. Before he left, he made a quick call to cancel the appointment with his therapist, wanting to spend as much time with his family as he could. He rolled his eyes when he thought about his therapist. It was Tina's idea or rather a firm suggestion that he had better go to therapy or she would fire him. Why she thought he needed therapy, he didn't have the faintest idea.

Just when he locked up the apartment and took the first few steps down, he noticed his neighbor's door opening and he quickly turned around, trying to run back to his apartment before he was noticed.

"Hello, Kurt." Adam's voice sounded on the corridor.

 _Busted. Dammit._

"Aren't you going to work?" His neighbor asked, gesturing at the stairs with a confused look on his face.

"Yes, yes." _Think, Hummel, think._ "I just forgot something."

"Oh yeah, I hate when that happens." Adam nodded with understanding, completely unaware of how much Kurt wanted to get out of there. "Hey, I was wondering… Wouldn't you like to grab dinner sometime?"

Kurt sighed internally. He knew that would happen – Adam had been dropping subtle hints (or not so subtle, if you asked Kurt) for the last few months, after he moved to New York from London. "Adam, look… I have this rule." He started, hoping it would go over quickly. "I don't… I don't date the guys that live in the same building."

Adam shook his head with a sad smile. "You seem to have a lot of rules."

"Yeah, well…" Kurt said, not knowing what else to say. "I have to go. See you later." He said and was about to run downstairs when Adam's voice stopped him.

"I thought you forgot something?" He asked, nodding in the direction of Kurt's apartment.

"Right, right." Kurt said, pretending to remember and turned around, climbing the stairs back to his place. "Thanks."

"No problem." Adam said and when he closed his door, Kurt internally sighed with relief. He opened his own door and, after a few seconds, he shut it loudly, hoping he made it convincing, and then hurried down the stairs, this time without any unwanted encounters.

The restaurant was completely packed that evening, making the kitchen ridiculously busy. The tension was even more palpable than usually, the serving crew running back and forth between the dining hall and the kitchen, the cooks working efficiently, trying to make everything on time. Before Kurt knew it, it was getting late and one look at the kitchen told him that he wouldn't be able to go home as early as he had planned. Leaving now, with a complete hustle and bustle in the kitchen, wasn't the best idea so, with a sigh, he decided to stay a little longer. He was just getting started on spicing up the seabass when the kitchen phone started ringing loudly.

"Somebody answer the phone!" Kurt ordered, not looking up from the plate, when no one moved to get it at first, annoyed by the repetitive sound. "If it's my brother, tell him I'll be a little late, but I should be home before ten."

"Chef?" Rachel, one of the servers called, after answering the phone. "It's for you."

"Tell them to leave a message." Kurt replied impatiently, not having time for some pointless phone call, not when there were plenty of people waiting for their food.

"Chef…" Rachel spoke again and this time something in her voice made Kurt look up. She was biting her lip and looking at him worriedly. "I really think you should take this."

Frowning, Kurt stopped what he was doing and walked to the phone. "Kurt Hummel speaking."

"Mr. Hummel? There's been an accident…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

After the phone call, everything Kurt did was on autopilot. Asking Rachel to fill everybody else in, rushing out of the restaurant and hailing a cab in record time. While he was sitting in the backseat, the words he had never thought he would hear kept repeating themselves in his head.

… _I'm so sorry Mr. Hummel…_

… _there's been an accident…_

… _your brother didn't make it…._

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop himself from crying. He couldn't believe this was happening and he kept hoping that maybe he would wake up, that all of this would turn to be some kind of a cruel nightmare. Unfortunately, the waking up part never came, the truth dawning on Kurt harder and harder with each second, his brother was gone. Before he could completely break down, the cab stopped in front of the hospital, so Kurt paid the driver and bolted out of the car, running inside the building and immediately heading to the nurse station.

"Excuse me?" He asked, a little out of breath. "I'm looking for Emily Hudson? She's nine, she was in an accident…"

After checking his ID making sure he was who he claimed he was, the nurse directed him in the direction of Emily's room. When he reached the door, he stopped, not able to walk in just yet. Through the window he could see the little girl, lying curled up on bed, probably asleep.

"Mr. Hummel?" The voice behind him sounded and Kurt turned around to see a man in scrubs. "I'm Doctor Hale."

"How is she?" Kurt asked, focusing his gaze back on the sleeping girl.

"She's going to be fine. It's just a couple of cuts and bruises, although we'd like to keep her for a day or two, just to make sure." The doctor said, trying to sound optimistic, but they both knew there wasn't a point.

"Has anyone told her yet?" Kurt asked, looking back at the doctor.

"No, we… we thought it would be better if she heard it from a family member." Hale said, smiling sadly. "Do you know if there's a possibility of reaching her mother?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, she's not in the picture. Never been."

The doctor nodded in understanding. "I have to go now, but I'll be back later to check on her." He said and touched Kurt's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt nodded without saying anything, taking a deep quivering breath, feeling the tears once again pooling in his eyes. The doctor tactfully disappeared, for which Kurt was grateful, he had never handled being exposed while vulnerable very well. Bracing himself, he quietly entered the room. He walked around the bed and sat down on one of the chairs standing by the wall, and looked at Emily. As he thought, she was asleep, although Kurt could tell by the distressed features of her face that the sleep was far from relaxing. He eyed the few visible cuts and wondered how the hell she got that lucky, coming out from such an accident with only a couple of scratches. He shook his head at the choice of word. _Lucky,_ he thought bitterly, how on earth could she consider herself lucky when she just lost her father… He leaned back on the chair, the exhaustion of the entire day finally catching up with him, so he made himself as comfortable as he could and slowly drifted to sleep.

He woke up some time later when he felt someone look at him. Stirring, he winced at the cramp in his neck and when he slowly opened his eyes, he noticed Emily was wide awake and was staring at him intently.

"Hi…" Kurt muttered, his voice still hoarse from sleeping. "How are you feeling?"

"Where's dad?" Emily asked right away and Kurt felt his heart drop. "Where is he?" His niece kept asking when he didn't answer, with each question her voice growing louder. "He's dead, isn't he." She stated with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, sweetie, yes, he is." Kurt said quietly, eyes glazed with tears, and his heart broke when Emily started crying, curling up on the bed, the sobs wrenching out of her tiny body. He didn't know what to do, how to comfort her, so he just sat there, his own tears streaming down his face. Eventually, he had to leave, the nurses basically kicking him out and telling him to get some rest and come back the next day. When he got to the apartment, it was late, he completely lost track of time, but it must have been the middle of the night. Checking the time on his phone, he noticed that he had one voicemail. He hit play and froze when he heard the voice of his brother and Emily's laugh in the background.

" _Hey, bro, we're running a little late, the traffic is insane! But we'll get there, can't wait to see you, we love you!"_

Kurt stood motionlessly for a few seconds and then hastily saved the message, desperately wanting to keep the last words Finn had ever said to him. It was all he had left. After he went to bed and was lying there, staring at the ceiling, the emotions that he had been bottling up for the whole day finally came through his walls. The loss of his brother dawning on him, he lied on his side, curled up under the blanket while the silent tears kept falling from his eyes. He wanted to scream and hit something, to yell how unfair the world was. His sobs became louder when the realization came onto him that, besides Emily, he didn't have any family left and that he was completely alone. And for the first time in his life, he wished he wasn't.

The next day, after visiting Emily in the hospital, he went to work, as always. The moment he entered the restaurant, the staff, currently in the middle of the briefing, fell silent. Kurt looked at them for a few seconds and then headed to the kitchen without a word, hearing the murmurs behind him. A minute later, Tina came in and walked up to him.

"Kurt, what are you doing here?" She asked, looking at him worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked right back, taking a look at the daily menu.

"I thought you were taking a few days off." She said quietly, looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"No, I'm fine." Kurt replied curtly, tying the apron and getting ready for work, still not looking at Tina. It was clear that she wanted to say more, but apparently decided against it because she only nodded and went back to the dining hall, leaving Kurt alone in the kitchen. When it was time to open and the usual bustle began, Kurt had been okay. He was working just like he always did, barking orders, threatening and making everything work like a perfectly oiled machine. Until, completely out of nowhere, his mind drifted back to the documents that were delivered to him this morning. Suddenly, the kitchen seemed too loud, too crowded, too overwhelming and he couldn't breathe. He put away what he was doing, asking Quinn to finish up and quickly went into the cooler room. Sitting down on one of the cases, he took a folded letter out of his pocket and started reading it, even though it felt like he already knew the entire thing by heart.

 _Hey there, Kurt._

 _The baby is amazing. She's so small and I'm afraid that I'm going to hurt her or drop her any second, but I already know that she's the biggest love of my life. Keeping her was the best decision I have ever made. Her name is Emily. Raising her on my own will be hard, I know that and it terrifies me every time I think about it. But I can do it, I will do it for her. The reason that I'm writing this letter is because I never want her to be alone. So if anything should ever happen to me you are the only person I would want to have her. I know you'll love my baby girl just as much as I do._

 _I know she just got here, to this world, and it seems weird to write this kind of letter so soon. But I want to be sure she's safe, no matter what._

 _I'm not going to tell you about it – you would probably call me insane and tell me that nothing bad would never happen. But it's not how this world works – you and I know that better than anyone._

 _I love you, bro. (I know you hate when I'm calling you that, dude. Okay, I'm stopping now.)_

 _Finn_

Kurt wasn't sure when exactly he started crying, but he was sobbing uncontrollably, clutching the letter in his hands. He had probably read it a thousand times since this morning, when it was delivered by Finn's lawyer, along with the full paperwork that made him Emily's legal guardian in case of her father's death. His whole body was shaking and the tears were flowing, but he couldn't stop. Every time he read Finn's words, everything was becoming more real and it felt like the world was crushing down around him.

Suddenly, the door to the cooler room opened, making Kurt jump and he tried to wipe his tears, but Tina's hand stopped him. When he looked up, she was crouching right in front of him, looking at him softly.

"Kurt…" She started quietly. "I want you to take a week off. It's not a suggestion, it's an order." Not able to talk, Kurt only nodded, knowing that she was right, he was in no condition to run a busy kitchen, he was barely able to get a hold of himself. Taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes, he stood up, folding the letter and putting it in his pocket, and headed back to the kitchen to get changed and grab his things. Then, not having it in him to walk even a couple blocks, he called for a cab and headed home. Back in the apartment, he wasn't sure what to do, so used to his working schedule, so he paced aimlessly through the apartment, feeling hollow and empty inside. He stopped next to the bookcase, looking at the framed photos standing there, his heart clenching painfully at the sight of Finn's smiling face. He sat down on the couch, leaning back and staring at the ceiling, wondering how many times life would decide to cause him pain and when exactly it would decide that he had had enough.

The next day, Kurt got up early to cook something for Emily and then headed out to the hospital, just as the visiting hours had begun. Putting on a brave face, he entered the building, taking the direction to the hospital wing Emily was in.

"Hi." Kurt said with a smile, knocking on the open door to Emily's hospital room. She was sitting on the bed, watching some cartoons on TV, barely looking at him when he walked closer.

"I made you something to eat." Kurt tried again, gesturing at the soup container he brought with himself.

"I'm not really hungry." Emily said quietly.

"That's okay. You can have it later, if you want." Kurt replied, putting the container away and sitting on one of the chairs. "They're going to let you out tomorrow, you know?"

"Yes." Emily replied, her eyes fixated on the TV screen, still not looking at Kurt.

He sighed. "Emily, we have to talk. About what's going to happen now."

"Can I go home?" She asked, turning her head and finally looking at him.

Kurt smiled at her sadly. "I'm afraid not, I'm sorry."

"Why not?" Emily asked, her eyes glazing slightly with tears.

"Well, you'd be completely alone there." When she said nothing, Kurt continued. "Your dad wanted… He asked me to take care of you." He said, even though at every mention of Finn, his heart felt like it was being stabbed. "So you'll be coming home with me, okay?" He didn't get an answer this time either, but he understood. He still remember how it felt when his mother died when he was eight, only a year younger than Emily was now, and he knew that it would take a lot of time for her to deal with the pain.

When he got home that day, he called the moving company and arranged for them to come with all of Emily's stuff in the next few days. Thankfully, back in Ohio, Finn's neighbor took care of packing all of her things and coordinating everything on that end, saving Kurt a lot of trouble of going to Ohio last minute.

The next morning, after being discharged, Emily was free to go home. She had been quiet during the entire ride from the hospital and when they got out of the cab, Kurt could see her looking the building up and down with absolutely no emotion showing on her face. He smiled encouragingly when their eyes met and led her up the stairs to his apartment. After giving her a quick tour, he took her to the guest bedroom. Well, Emily's from now on.

"And this is going to be your room." He said, opening the door. Seeing Emily look around blankly, he sighed. "I know it's looking pretty empty right now, but I'm sure you'll like it more when your things get here." That seemed to catch Emily's attention.

"My stuff?" She asked him, with a hope in her eyes and Kurt smiled.

"Yes. Your clothes, your toys – all of your things, they should be delivered tomorrow."

And sure enough, the next day, in the afternoon, the doorbell rang, announcing the movers' arrival. There were only two of them, so Kurt and Emily went down to help carry all the boxes upstairs. Kurt was stunned by the amount of stuffed animals Emily apparently owned and thought he had seen it all – it was until he was suddenly faced with a huge giraffe, almost as tall as he was. With help of one of the guys from the moving company, they managed to successfully take it upstairs, maneuvering between all the furniture, safely placing it in Emily's room. After they were done and the movers drove away, Kurt found himself having too much time and nothing to do, so he figured it would be a good idea to check on the restaurant and see how the kitchen was doing without him. Knocking on the door, he peeked his head into Emily's room. She was sitting on the floor, arranging the stuffed animals; she had so many of them that they filled almost the entire room.

"Emily, I have to go to the restaurant for a moment." Kurt said when she looked up at him. "Will you be okay for a little while?" She only nodded, not saying anything. "If anything happens call me and I'll be right back, I'll only be a couple of blocks away." He assured her and then showed her the home phone. "The restaurant is under number two on the speed dial and my cell is under number three." Before he left, he made sure to leave some food for her on the counter in the kitchen, hoping that maybe she would eat while he was gone.

When Kurt entered the restaurant and got closer to the kitchen, he frowned when he heard music playing. Italian music to be exact, Andrea Bocelli if Kurt's memory served him right, vaguely recognizing the song. He opened the door and froze. There was a man in the middle of his kitchen, his black hair gelled down, wearing a ridiculous pair of pants with… bowties on them, singing loudly along with the song playing from the small radio that definitely hadn't been in Kurt's kitchen before. What was even worse, it seemed like everyone was having plenty of fun, singing with the man and swaying slightly to the music. When the song was coming to an end, the man stood in the middle of the kitchen, flawlessly belting out the high note, raising his arms above his head, still firmly holding the quail in his hand that he was probably supposed to be preparing instead of doing his little performing routine. Everyone started clapping and, apparently, Quinn was the only one that noticed Kurt standing by the door and when their eyes met, she quickly bit her lip, though it was clear she was trying to hide a smile.

"Who do you think you are?" Kurt asked coldly, making everyone freeze and all eyes turned to him.

The man's head snapped to the side and when he saw Kurt, he smiled. "Blaine Anderson." He introduced himself. "And, before you say anything, may I just say that the world would be a dark and depressing place without your quail in truffle sauce." He said, gesturing at the quail in his hand.

Kurt glared at Anderson for a few seconds and then abruptly turned to Tina who appeared in the kitchen as soon as she saw Kurt come in. "We need to talk." He said, his voice cold and harsh, and he exited the kitchen, not even looking behind his shoulder to see if she was following him.

"You could have at least asked me." He said straight forward, as soon as she joined him in the hall.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't wait." Tina began in a hushed whisper, trying not to alert the customers. "Blaine became available, so I had to act quickly."

"The last thing I need in my kitchen is some lunatic." Kurt said through gritted teeth, lowering his voice when Tina glared pointedly at him.

"He's not a lunatic, he's enthusiastic!" Tina exclaimed. "Maybe we could use a little bit of that around here."

"The only demand I had when I took this position was that I get to choose who I work with." Kurt said, anger flaring from his eyes. "Quinn would have been just fine."

"Quinn can barely stand up, the woman is eight months pregnant!" Tina retorted, looking at Kurt incredulously. "Give Blaine a chance, he's an excellent cook."

"I know nothing about him, how can I-." Kurt started, not believing what was happening.

"Oh, give me some credit; do you really think I would hire someone incompetent?" Tina snapped, interrupting him. "He was the sous-chef at _Il Treviso._ "

"Italian?" Kurt snorted. "You bring the sous-chef from an Italian restaurant, and I'm the one in therapy?" He exclaimed, angrily following Tina who started heading back to the kitchen.

"Enough." Tina snapped, stabbing Kurt's chest with her finger. "We're lucky to have him; _Tropicana_ offered him a position as an executive chef."

"Then why didn't he take it?" Kurt asked sweetly, though his eyes were burning with rage.

"Because he said he wanted to work with you." Tina said, making Kurt quiet for a moment. He looked around the kitchen and noticed Blaine who grinned and waved when their eyes met, probably not aware of the small fire on the pan next to him. With a raised eyebrow, Kurt pointed his finger at it and Blaine quickly turned around and expertly shook the pan, flipping whatever was on it to get everything under control. With a pointed look to Tina, as if to say _we'll see how competent he is_ , he turned around and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving the restaurant, wishing he hadn't decided to come by that evening.

When Kurt got home, he quietly closed the door behind him, assuming Emily was already asleep. Deciding to check on her, he started walking in the direction of her room, but stopped when he heard noises of the TV coming from his own bedroom. Quietly, he tried to open the door, but it budged only slightly, as if something was blocking it. Through the crack, he saw Emily curled up on his bed, the TV being the only source of light in the room. Glad there was another way to his room, through the bathroom, he slowly, not wanting to wake her, walked up to the door. Thankfully, it wasn't locked or blocked by anything, so he quietly entered the room, noticing that the reason he wasn't able to use the door from the hall was the chair propped under the handle. Putting it away, he took the remote to turn off the TV and he lit a small lamp standing on the dresser. When he grabbed the blanket to cover Emily, he saw the photo album lying underneath it. It was open on the photos of Finn, alone, with Kurt or with Emily. Kurt's heart felt like it had been stabbed again, knowing how much she missed him and that she probably fell asleep while watching the photos. After covering Emily with the blanket and making sure she was still asleep, he quickly changed and brushed his teeth, and then quietly lied beside her, the exhaustion after the unpleasant encounters in the restaurant quickly catching up with him, making him fall asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Kurt." There was a voice sounding in Kurt's head that was desperately trying to pull him out from a very nice dream, so he did his best to ignore it.

"Kurt." There it was again, this time followed by a gentle nudge on his shoulder. Apparently, there was no way of getting out of it, so Kurt reluctantly opened his eyes, only to see Emily in front of him, fully dressed, with her coat and boots on.

"School starts at nine." She said and, apparently, his brain was a bit slow this morning because when he kept staring at her, blinking owlishly, she pointed at the clock. "It's in forty-five minutes."

The realization hit Kurt like a freight train and he literally jumped out of bed, almost killing himself when his feet got tangled in one of the blankets. "Right, right, come on, get dressed." Kurt called running to the bathroom. He ran out from there thirty seconds later, rushing to the closet to find some clothes. "Oh, you're already dressed, right…" He kept rambling. "I made you lunch yesterday, it's in the kitchen, can you grab it?" He called to Emily and as she went to the kitchen, he quickly ran to the hall to put his shoes and coat on. "Okay, are we ready?" He asked, extremely proud that he managed to make himself useful in only five minutes, although he still desperately needed coffee. However, that could wait, until Emily was settled at school.

"I need my scarf." Emily said, reappearing in the hall, pointing in the direction of her room, where there were boxes with her things, still a few of them unpacked.

"We don't have time, Emily, we'll find it later." Kurt said in a rush, glancing at the clock again, knowing that they really had to get going.

"I can't go out without a scarf." Emily replied.

"Okay, then how about you take one of mine, I have a fantastic collection of scarves." Kurt offered.

When Emily stared at him blankly, not making a move to go, Kurt sighed and cursed internally, she was just as stubborn as Finn was; of course it was something she had to get from him as well. Hurrying into her room, Kurt started going through the boxes, finding three different scarves, all of them wrong, before finding the right one, a long scarf in the colors of the rainbow. Finally ready to go, they ran downstairs, Kurt quickly hailing a cab and praying the traffic would let them get to the school on time. They made it two minutes before the final bell.

"Okay, I think this is where you go in." Kurt said, looking the building up and down, focusing on the stairs leading to the big door. "Come on."

They went inside, looking for Emily's classroom, when suddenly a black woman appeared from around the corner. "Ah, Mr. Hummel?" She asked with a smile. "My name's Mercedes Jones, I'm the principal here." She introduced herself, shaking Kurt's hand. "And you must be Emily." She said with an even warmer smile, looking kindly at the little girl.

"Yes, I am." Emily replied politely.

"How about I take you to your class and to your new teacher?" She offered and Kurt smiled at her gratefully. "I'll see you later then, Mr. Hummel." She said and took Emily's hand, leading her to the classroom, leaving Kurt alone in the hall. He smiled slightly at the sight, still a bit worried, hoping his niece wouldn't have too much trouble adjusting to the new school and meeting new people. With a sigh, he exited the school and on his way back home, started thinking about what to make for dinner. He thought about what happened two days ago when he made an exquisite seabass, perfectly spiced up and how Emily only glanced at it, and then stated she wasn't hungry, asking if she could go back to her room. Kurt didn't know if it was the kind of food that she didn't like or if she decided not to eat because she missed her dad. Although, when he thought about it, maybe a whole fish, with its head and tail, lying on a plate, wasn't the best idea for a meal for an eight year old girl, no matter how well prepared it was, and his mind flickered to the meeting with his therapist from the day before.

" _There has to be someone that would do it better than me." Kurt groaned, flopping down on the couch in his therapist's office. "I'm not parent material; I don't know how to take care of a kid. How do their minds work? Okay, I lost my mom when I was around her age, but that's the only thing we have in common and she doesn't want to talk about it." He kept talking to the ceiling. "Not that it surprises me." He added quietly._

" _I can't get Emily to eat anything I make." Kurt started talking again, after a pause, when Dr. Michaels didn't say anything, probably wanting him to get it all out of his system. "What am I supposed to do? Force her?"_

" _Maybe she misses her father's cooking." His therapist suggested._

" _Finn didn't cook." Kurt snorted, rolling his eyes fondly. "He reheated."_

" _Exactly. Maybe Emily needs something familiar. Less… sophisticated." Dr. Michaels said. "What did you eat when you were a kid?"_

 _Kurt sighed and shook his head. "It's not the same."_

" _What do you mean?" The therapist asked._

" _My mom was an amazing cook." He started, melancholy washing over him as he revisited some of the memories. "After she died… My dad was a mess. At first, we didn't know how to live without her, how to cope. He didn't know how to cook, so we mostly ordered take out, until I started trying to prepare the food that my mother had taught me. There wasn't any… kids food. I made what I knew how to make."_

" _Okay." Dr. Michaels said thoughtfully. "What about fish sticks?" He suddenly asked. "Kids love them."_

" _Fish sticks?" Kurt repeated, sitting up and looking at the therapist dumbly._

" _Yeah, you know, they're frozen and…" Dr. Michaels started._

" _I know what fish sticks are." Kurt interrupted him and shook his head in disbelief. "I just can't believe I'm paying for these suggestions."_

So, fish sticks. Before he got home, Kurt made a quick stop at the supermarket, walking up to the freezers and grabbing two packs of fish sticks, food he had never imagined he would find himself buying. Back at the apartment, he made a call to the babysitting agency, arranging for a young girl named Ashley, to come before he had to leave to the restaurant.

When it was time to pick Emily up from school, Kurt headed over there, standing between the group of parents waiting outside, feeling exceptionally out of place. Suddenly, the bell rang and kids started running out of the school. Kurt stretched, standing on his toes, trying to spot Emily in the crowd and when he saw her, her big backpack making her look so tiny, he started waving until he caught her attention. The weather was beautiful, so instead of taking a cab, Kurt figured it would be a good idea to take a stroll through the park. They walked in silence until Kurt decided to break it.

"Did you learn anything interesting?" He asked, wanting to bond with Emily, at least a little.

"No." She replied, focused on kicking the small stone on the pavement.

"Anything uninteresting?" Kurt kept trying, but he had a feeling he wouldn't get much out of her.

"No." Emily repeated, not unkindly, but still, not saying anything else.

"How was your teacher?" Kurt changed the subject, hoping he would get more luck there.

"Bald." Was the short response.

"Well, that's interesting." Kurt stated, deciding not to push anymore. She would talk more when the time was right. Or, at least, that's what Kurt hoped for. When they got home, Kurt started preparing dinner, calling Emily who was in her room, when it was ready.

"Fish sticks!" Kurt said with a smile, setting the plate in front of her. "I thought that maybe you'll like it more than some of the other dishes I make."

"You know, I was thinking." He started, busying himself around the kitchen. "I know so little about you. I mean, we're family, but I don't even know what your favorite color is."

"Red." Emily said, still not eating.

"See, I didn't know that." Kurt replied, internally cheering. "I love red, it's an amazing color." He said, preparing a salad for himself to eat. He might have bought fish sticks, but he sure as hell wasn't going to eat them. "What's your favorite number?" He asked.

"You know, you don't have to do this." Emily said.

"Do what?" Kurt asked, frowning slightly.

"Try so hard." She replied and Kurt was pretty sure his jaw dropped, but he was saved by the doorbell. He went to the door and when he opened it, there was a girl standing on the other side, dressed in black, with a ring in her nose and very heavy make-up.

"Hi, I'm Ashley." She said in a monotone voice, taking the headphones out of her ears.

"From the agency?" Kurt asked hesitantly, eyeing her with apprehension. He knew better than to judge people by their appearance, but her attitude wasn't helping her case at all.

"You're expecting another Ashley?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

"No, no, please, come in." Kurt rushed to say, opening the door wider. He wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving Emily with her, but he didn't have a choice, he had to go to work soon. When he was closing the door, he caught a glimpse of Emily storming out of the kitchen, followed by the slam of the door to her room, the fish sticks left untouched on the kitchen table. Leaving Ashley in the hall, he headed to Emily's room, knocking on the door and finding her sitting on the bed when he came in.

"I told you, I don't need a babysitter, I'm not a baby anymore." She said angrily, with crossed arms, looking at Kurt with frustration.

"I know, honey, but I can't leave you alone for so long in the evening." Kurt tried to explain.

"Why not? I'm perfectly fine by myself." Emily argued.

"Em. You barricaded the door last time I left you alone." Kurt said pointedly, making Emily sigh and nodding reluctantly. In that moment, Ashley appeared in the door and Kurt saw that she was holding a book. Maybe there was some hope. "Oh, I see you've brought something to read to Emily." He said with a smile, but it quickly disappeared when he heard Ashley's answer.

"It's for my thesis. Rapidly mutating deadly viruses. You know, like Ebola." She said with a boring tone and then turned around and went to the kitchen.

Kurt's eyes widened and when she left, he looked at Emily who didn't look any better. "Well." She said with a sad smile. "Have fun at work."

Even though he really didn't like it, he had no choice. When he was leaving to the restaurant, he only hoped that nothing bad would happen. _Emily's a big girl, she said so herself,_ Kurt tried comforting himself on his way to work. _She can take care of herself. Or stop Ashley from burning down the apartment to test if it kills the Ebola virus._ He quickly shook his head, trying to get rid of the dark thoughts. Thankfully, his work provided numerous distractions, so he was eager to get started.

After he got changed, he walked into the kitchen where Blaine and Quinn were unpacking the freshly delivered fish, the music playing loudly from the CD player, that, apparently, was Anderson's inseparable companion.

"So, how do you want the seabass prepared tonight?" Quinn asked.

Blaine grabbed the fish and raised it to the level of his head. "Tell them they're going to be served to some very important people." He said in a funny voice, looking tenderly right in the fish's eyes, making Quinn laugh loudly and Kurt roll his eyes. As he passed them, Kurt shut the music off, making Blaine turn around.

"You don't like music?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It distracts my staff." Kurt replied shortly and was about to leave the kitchen when Rachel came in, wearing a big smile on her face, and walked up to Blaine.

"You were right. Bocelli makes sex _so_ much better." She whispered excitedly, but loud enough for everyone in the kitchen to hear her, making Kurt almost choke on his spit.

Blaine laughed loudly. "Glad to hear it. Ramazzotti is good too, but only for shallow one night stands." He added with a wink, making Rachel laugh on her way out. Kurt gritted his teeth, biting his tongue, trying to stop himself from snapping and left the kitchen before he could lose control of himself. Outside, he took his place at the table where the usual briefing took place, along with the staff eating their early dinner before starting their shifts. Soon enough, the rest of the staff started showing up, so Kurt did what he always did – he busied himself with the crossword in the daily paper. Tina arrived shortly after and started to instruct the waiters about some minor things and making them go over the menu for that day.

"Chef?" One of the waiters, Robert asked hesitantly and when Kurt looked up, he saw him holding a plate with pasta, offering it to him with a question in his eyes.

"No, thank you." Kurt declined, smiling kindly and getting back to the crossword. Apparently, Blaine was the one that had made dinner for everyone that day, no one else would prepare Italian food. Busy with the paper, he missed the curious look on Blaine's face when the plate came back to him.

"Only a full cook can judge food." Blaine suddenly said, making Kurt look up again because it was quite obvious he was the one that sentence was addressed to. "When you're hungry, everything tastes better than it really is."

"I never eat in the afternoon." Kurt replied with a thin smile, proud of himself for not glaring nor stabbing Blaine right there. Unfortunately, it seemed like Blaine wasn't going to give up so easily. Grabbing the plate, he walked up to where Kurt was sitting.

"My grandmother whispered this recipe into my ear on her deathbed." He said, leaning into Kurt's personal space and looking him in the eye. "I made it especially for you today, please, don't break my grandma's heart." He said, giving him the best puppy eyes Kurt had ever seen. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then, Kurt picked up the plate, rolled the pasta on the fork, and put it in his mouth.

"Happy?" He asked coldly.

"Very happy." Blaine replied with a smile, going back to his seat.

"I thought your grandmother lived in Florida." Tina asked Blaine with a grin, loud enough for everyone to hear it, and glancing at Kurt.

"Well." Blaine started and then shook his head with a smile. "We thought she wasn't going to make it. It was a miracle!" He exclaimed, making everyone laugh loudly, but the laughter quickly died down at Kurt's murderous glare, shot in everyone's direction. He could glare then, nothing was stopping him. He stood up and walked out of there, his head held high, ignoring Blaine calling out after him.

Fuming, he walked into the small office they had in the back of the kitchen and grabbed the daily menu, slicing off the bottom half of it with a knife. When Blaine appeared in the kitchen, he handed it to him.

"You'll handle those dishes, I'll take the others." Kurt said firmly without looking at him. "We won't be getting in each other's way."

"Your half is bigger than mine." Blaine commented, quickly sweeping through the list. "Right, right." He backed off with a smile when Kurt slowly turned around, glaring at him, still holding the big knife in his hand. "I have some cool dishes too, I got fish, I got rabbit, and I got beef. It's all good!" He said cheerfully and went to his station to set up everything he would need.

Unfortunately, avoiding Blaine and not getting in each other's way wasn't as easy as Kurt hoped it would be. The kitchen wasn't that big, so they were passing each other all the time, Blaine smiling at him every time their eyes met. Also, Kurt couldn't help himself, but check on Blaine sometimes, just to make sure he wouldn't mess anything up. He didn't trust him just yet.

"Have you seasoned it right?" He asked, coming up to him as Blaine was stirring the sauce.

"Yes, chef." Blaine replied cheerfully and Kurt dipped his spoon in it, ignoring the spoon Blaine was handing him and tasted the sauce, and damn, it was good. Like _really_ good.

"It's okay." He conceded and walked away, not seeing Blaine's winning grin and an amused, small shake of his head.

Kurt couldn't help but notice how well Blaine got along with everyone, making all of them laugh whenever they exchanged even a few words. Kurt wasn't sure if it was jealousy that he was feeling and decided not to dwell on them and focus on his job, and walked up to the other cooks, asking where the hell his lamb was. It was a great distraction, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be so lucky to avoid interacting with Blaine for the rest of the night. And he was right.

"So, can I ask you something?" Blaine asked conversationally when they were working at the same table, preparing different desserts.

"Do I have a choice?" Kurt replied, not bothering to look at him, too busy making a perfect pattern with a chocolate sauce.

Unfazed by his cold tone, Blaine continued. "Where did you learn to cook so well?"

"My mother." Kurt said after a moment of silence, fixing the strawberries that were tilting on top of the piece of cake he was preparing.

"Really?" Blaine asked, looking at him in surprise. "I thought you were going to say you studied under Alan Passard at _L'Apr_ _è_ _ge_ or something."

Kurt looked up with an eyebrow raised. "I did. But she was better. And she didn't throw plates at me." He added, focusing back on the dessert. The only thing he had left to do was putting a decorative, small, fragile basket on top of the cake. Grabbing it delicately, he bowed down to level with the plate and slowly proceeded to put the decoration on. He could feel Blaine looking over his shoulder, his whole body tensing and, unfortunately, just when he was about to put the basket on, his hand shook and he crashed it, swearing loudly.

"Damn it, I need my space." He huffed annoyingly and grabbed the plate and another basket, walking around Blaine to the other side of the table. He started to clean up the plate from the remains of the crushed basket when Blaine spoke again.

"Why are you so mad at me?" He asked, not smiling anymore.

"I'm not mad at you." Kurt replied right away, eliciting a dubious look from Blaine.

"You're very mad." He said, looking at Kurt expectantly, making him curse internally, wondering how the hell he was so good at reading him. On the other hand, with all his glares and cold attitude, Kurt hadn't been the most subtle about it.

"Look." He said, putting everything away and looking Blaine straight in the eye. "This is my kitchen. I've worked very hard to get here and I'm not going to let you take it all away from me." He said, not so calm anymore, the fire blazing from his eyes.

"What makes you think I want that?" Blaine asked after a short moment of silence, looking at Kurt with a frown.

"What else could you possibly want?" Kurt answered with a question of his own. "I've dealt with guys like you before, straight and cocky, thinking the world belongs to them." He said quietly, venom lacing his voice, and stormed away from the table. He headed to the cooler room to clear his head and when he opened the door, he came across a startled Rachel, with a script in her hand.

"I'm so sorry, I have an audition…" She said, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Kurt smiled thinly. "Would you mind?" He asked, gesturing at the door.

"Right." She said, hastily scrambling out of the cooler room. Kurt leaned back against the shelf and took a deep breath, but his moment of peace didn't last very long. Not even two minutes later, the door opened again and when Kurt opened his eyes, he saw Blaine standing right in front of him.

"Look. First of all. Straight? Not really." Blaine said, looking at him with amusement and raising his eyebrow, and wow, that Kurt wasn't expecting at all, his eyes widening in shock. "Second of all." Blaine continued, his expression growing more serious. "I don't need this job, I can work wherever I want. I'd like to work here because it's an honor to cook with you, Kurt." He stated, looking at Kurt intently. "But I'd also rather work somewhere I'm welcome. So if you want me to go, just say the word." He said, and for a few seconds they were staring at each other, but before Kurt had a chance to say anything, Tina stormed into the cooler room.

"Want to tell me what's going on in here?" She demanded, walking up to them, her gaze shifting from Blaine to Kurt and then back to Blaine.

When Kurt still didn't say anything, Blaine shook his head with a huff and began untying his apron. "I'm sorry, Tina, but you'll have to find someone else."

Tina looked at him with wide eyes. "Where are you going? Kurt, what have you done?"

"I didn't do anything." Kurt replied coldly, grabbing two crème brûlèes from the shelf and going out to the kitchen, Tina following right behind him.

"Blaine, please, we need you." She said pleadingly, when Blaine started to grab his things, his bag, aprons and a CD player.

"Well, I'll have to hear it from him." He said gesturing at Kurt, who was getting ready to caramelize the desserts, his back turned to Blaine.

"It's my restaurant!" Tina said incredulously.

Blaine stopped packing his things and looked at her. "It may be your restaurant, Tina, but it's his kitchen." He said with a small smile and a shrug, making Kurt stop what he was doing. "Without him all this would be a pile of hot metal and dirty dishes, so he decides." He grabbed the packed back bag and the radio, and walked in the direction of the door, stopping right behind Kurt.

"Kurt." Tina said, looking at Kurt pleadingly, making him huff and turn around. He looked around the kitchen, met Quinn's meaningful gaze, and sighed.

"Seems you have left me no choice." He said, looking at Blaine, who was looking back at him, a challenge in his eyes.

"Do you want me to stay?" Blaine asked with a grin slowly growing on his face.

"Didn't I just say that?" Kurt said impatiently, turning on the butane torch.

"I didn't hear those words." Blaine replied with a shrug.

Kurt stared at him with a death glare. "I want you to stay." He said slowly, through gritted teeth.

"I'd love to." Blaine replied with a big smile. "Thought you'd never ask." He added teasingly and headed back to his station. "You're on fire." He said as he walked by Kurt, making him look down and yelp quietly when he saw his apron lit up from the torch he must have lowered accidentally and toss the material on the floor, putting away the fire with his foot.

The rest of the evening passed without any other incidents, both Kurt and Blaine staying out of each other's way. Blaine, because he didn't want to annoy Kurt any further, even though it was hilarious, and Kurt because he just wasn't in the mood to face Blaine again. When it was closing time, Kurt was so relieved he could dance. He wasn't sure how long he would manage to avoid Blaine and what's worse, he didn't know what to expect if their paths crossed again. He didn't know Blaine well enough to know if he would act like nothing had happened, if he would revel in how Kurt was made to ask him to stay or if the whole situation would just be awkward. Glad to have the whole day to think everything through, and hoping everything would die down a little until he had to face Blaine again, he headed home.

When Kurt opened the door to the apartment, he was surprised by how dark it was. He slowly walked around, but there wasn't a sign of Ashley anywhere. He winced when he saw the ashtray full of cigarette butts on the table and quickly tossed them all in the trash. Wondering if Emily was already asleep, he quietly walked to her room and when he peeked inside through the slightly open door, he noticed she wasn't in bed. Instead, he saw the light coming from under the bed and a hushed voice coming from there.

"I know you're scared, Sammy, but don't worry. You're safe here." He could hear his niece say, presumably to one of her toys. He came inside and knelt on the floor, slowly lifting the edge of the comforter and revealing Emily lying there, comfortably set between the blankets and pillows, many of her plush toys surrounding her, all of them looking pretty cozy.

"Hey there." Kurt said quietly with a soft smile. "When did Ashley leave?"

"I don't know." Emily said with a shrug. "A while ago, I guess."

Kurt looked at her thoughtfully. "I have an idea. How about you go with me to the restaurant tomorrow?" He offered, not wanting to leave her again with a complete stranger. He knew he probably did the right thing when Emily smiled a little and nodded.

"Okay." He said, smiling back. "Goodnight, sweetheart." He said, deciding to let her sleep where she was. "And to you too, all of Emily's furry friends." He added, looking at the toys and eliciting a small giggle from Emily. With that, he dropped the comforter and headed to his own bedroom to get ready for bed.

* * *

 **Please, review! Reviews are like cookies and everybody loves cookies, so... :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy anniversary of the elevator kiss!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

The next day after picking Emily up from school and trying to make her eat dinner, Kurt took her to the restaurant, just as he had promised. She was pretty excited about it and, judging by her expression, slightly awed by the kitchen, so much bigger than the one in Kurt's apartment, obviously. Thankfully, Tina didn't have a problem with her hanging around, she even offered to take her for a little tour through every nook and cranny of the restaurant, which Kurt accepted after Emily's face lit up like a Christmas tree. When it was time to start working, Kurt instructed her to stay in the background, so she wouldn't get in the way when things would get busy, but he knew she understood that, she was a smart girl. From time to time, Kurt glanced in her direction, but she seemed okay, sitting quietly and observing the hustle of the kitchen curiously, her eyes dancing around, following every move.

During one moment, Kurt was working with Quinn at the side of the kitchen opposite to the one Emily was in, chatting quietly about how Kurt had been doing and how things looked at home. Blaine, working not far from them, wasn't exactly eavesdropping, but they were talking loud enough that Blaine couldn't help but listen, whether he wanted to or not. He actually didn't mind, he was always eager to learn something new about Kurt. That man was such a complicated person, attracting Blaine immediately, making him more and more intrigued with each day.

"… doesn't want to eat anything I cook for her, I don't know what else to do." Blaine heard Kurt say to Quinn and Blaine had never heard him sound so resigned.

"Maybe you should try making some food that's more child-like, I don't know." Quinn told him, trying to help, but Tina, demanding that he went out to talk to some pleased customers, interrupted whatever Kurt wanted to say.

Blaine glanced at the girl sitting on one of the metal tables in the back of the kitchen and was suddenly struck with an idea. He walked up to the table Emily was sitting on, grabbing a bowl and a bunch of basil on his way. Leaning against the table, he burrowed his nose in it and breathed in deeply, inhaling the aroma. Without a word, he started ripping off the leaves, one by one, and putting them in the bowl. In the corner of his eye, he could see Emily glancing at him and when he caught her gaze, he smiled and offered her one twig, looking at her questioningly. Without a word, she took it from him and started to rip off the leaves, just like he did. They were working together in silence, until Blaine had to get back to the food he was preparing. Once again, he smiled broadly and took the bowl with him to continue with his plan. Between the dishes he was making for the customers, he cooked some pasta and made a simple tomato sauce, and after mixing them in a bowl and adding the previously prepared basil, he had a perfect spaghetti Napoli done and ready.

"Hey, guys, I'm going to take a break now!" He called and made his way to Emily, sitting up on the table again. He started eating and, after a few minutes, he could feel the girl's eyes on him, but he continued looking straight ahead, pretending not to see her.

"Blaine, I know you're on a break, but I really need that seabass for table eight." Quinn called out a few minutes later, looking at him pleadingly.

"Coming!" Blaine called back. "Here, can you hold this for me?" He asked Emily with a smile, shoving the bowl into her hands and running back to his station. While he was working on the fish, he kept sneaking glances on the little girl and after a while, he noticed her hesitantly pick up the fork. After the first bite, she started eating more decisively and Blaine smiled. Mission accomplished.

"Hey, save some for me, okay?" He called, making Emily look up and smile sheepishly. He winked, not wanting her to worry and bowed down to pull the fish out of the oven. "You know." He started conversationally. "In ancient Rome, guys used to chew basil before the prom to get rid of bad breath. It's true." He added when Emily looked at him dubiously.

"They didn't have proms in ancient Rome." Emily suddenly said, making Blaine look up.

"They didn't?" He asked, looking at her unbelievingly. "Are you sure?" When Emily nodded, he shrugged with a smile. "Damn. I was sure they did."

A few minutes later Kurt came back to the kitchen, seething internally, he really hated going out there, even though he appreciated when people liked his food. _Well, of course they did, everything I make is always flawless_. His internal train of thought suddenly stopped when he noticed Emily sitting on the same table as before, but this time she was eating something, pasta with tomato sauce, judging by the looks of it. When he looked questioningly at Quinn, she just shook her head with a smile and nodded in the direction of Blaine. As if he felt the eyes on him, Blaine suddenly turned around and Kurt smiled gratefully, mouthing a 'thank you' in his direction. Blaine just shrugged and smiled, as if to say it wasn't a problem at all and focused back on the fish he was seasoning.

 _Maybe he isn't such a bad guy,_ Kurt thought, but immediately busied himself with the new orders coming from the waiters, and the food waiting for his approval or minor additions, so he pushed the thought to the back of his head, not wanting to let anything distract him from work.

Later that night, when it was time to go home, Kurt headed to the back room where he knew Emily was. He found her asleep on the small couch they kept there and smiled sadly. He knew that having her stay up that late probably wasn't the best idea, but then he remembered how much she enjoyed being here, she probably smiled more during that one evening than in the last few days. One of the main reasons for that was Blaine who took his time between preparing the food to exchange a few words with Emily or tell her some silly jokes, making her laugh, and Kurt was silently grateful for that, not quite ready to admit out loud that he was slowly warming up to the man. The kitchen seemed to be a little bit brighter and the people were a little bit more relaxed and, as long as it didn't lower the standards of the food and interfere with their work, well, Kurt could live with that.

Picking Emily up, he steadied her gently in his arms, walking out of the room. He was heading towards the door when he saw Blaine, putting on his coat. When he noticed them, he quickly hurried to the door to hold it open for Kurt, making him smile gratefully since, with Emily in his arms, he would probably have a problem with going out.

"Thank you." Kurt said quietly, not wanting to wake Emily up.

"No problem." Blaine replied with an easy smile. "Goodnight, Kurt."

"Goodnight." Kurt said and went outside, getting to the cab he called for earlier, trying not to think about Blaine's smile that made him feel all fuzzy inside. The man seemed like a naturally cheerful person, so the constant smiles on his face and the friendly attitude were probably inherent traits of his personality, so Kurt shouldn't read too much into that. Besides, even if Blaine was interested, Kurt didn't have time for that. He had Emily now, he had his kitchen, there was no place for a relationship in his life, there hadn't been for years, so it didn't matter. At least, that's what he had been telling himself for years, trying not to think about his younger self, that young Kurt Hummel, the silly romantic, hoping for the big love, someone that he would live happily ever after with. No, he had abandoned those dreams a long time ago, the world teaching him and reminding every now and then that life, in fact, wasn't a fairytale at all.

* * *

After that evening, Kurt and Emily developed a routine that, to Kurt's relief, seemed to work quite well. After picking his niece up from school, they went back to the apartment for dinner, something that they also reached a compromise on. Happy that she was finally eating, Kurt had given himself a challenge, coming up with different recipes that would appease both of their appetites, and he was having quite a lot of fun with those experiments, if he was being honest. After dinner they headed to the restaurant where Emily had everyone wrapped around her finger, making Kurt impressed, it took her barely two days to achieve that. During the briefing and other organizing stuff, she was busy in the backroom, doing her homework, ready to accompany everyone in the kitchen once the work began. She was even helping sometimes, ripping the leaves of the twigs like she did with Blaine during her first night in the restaurant or doing some other minor things. It seemed to make her happy, so Kurt let her be, glad she wasn't bored and that she was actually enjoying being there with him.

Emily also seemed to adore Blaine. Whenever he had a minute of free time, he spent it with her, telling her about the Italian cuisine and other funny stories. Kurt couldn't help but admire and also envy how quickly Blaine managed to assure Emily to himself, they seemed like best friends already. He could see Blaine easily fit in a role of a kindergarten teacher or maybe elementary school, he was amazing with children and Kurt wondered if he had any younger siblings. It turned out that he knew quite a lot of Disney songs, so whenever he was working somewhere close to her, he started humming, not too loud, probably afraid of Kurt telling him to stop, making Emily join and sing with him. Nevertheless, truth be told, Kurt didn't mind, the chatter in the background didn't seem to affect anyone in a bad way and he found himself actually liking it, realizing that the work he had always enjoyed seemed even more pleasant with some music in the background.

It also turned out, true to Tina's word, that Blaine was indeed an excellent cook. All of the dishes he was preparing were made flawlessly and with care, and Kurt had to admit, it was easier to run the kitchen with an extra pair of hands at his disposal. He also had a chance to taste some of Blaine's personal recipes since Blaine very often volunteered to prepare the food for the staff that they would eat during the briefing. He told Blaine the truth, about when he had started working at _Le Palais_ , about not eating in the afternoon; but he found himself breaking that rule more often than not, ever since he started bringing Emily with him and she absolutely insisted he tried the food, and damn, he had never been a fan of Italian cuisine, but Blaine's food was exquisite. Kurt was even warming up to Blaine himself, not just his food, noticing that everyone was a little bit more at ease during work thanks to his bubbly personality, making Kurt admit, though reluctantly, that terrorizing people wasn't the only way to make them efficient. Apparently, creating a friendly environment for work did the trick as well. Who knew?

Yes, adjusting to the new reality was hard – it always had been for Kurt, he had never been good with changes. In Kurt's life, changes had never really meant something good, usually caused or followed by a disappointment or a burn. But maybe this time, changes would turn Kurt's life a little bit brighter.

* * *

The alarm beeped and Kurt opened his eyes with a groan. It was the day to go to the fish market, he remembered, trying to turn the damn thing off and sitting up in the bed. With a yawn, he got up and quickly got ready, moving around the apartment, not wanting to disturb Emily. He figured he would go out and be back before she even woke up, but just when he was about to leave, Emily's voice sounded in the hall.

"Where are you going?" She asked sleepily, standing in the doorway to her room, gripping her stuffed bear, Sammy, tightly.

Kurt turned around, surprised to see her awake. "To the market, I have to buy fish for the restaurant." He said, walking up to her. "Go back to sleep, I'll be back soon."

"Can I go with you?" She asked and Kurt nodded slowly, having no idea why she would prefer going out than sleeping for a few more hours, but he really didn't have the time to discuss it with her. After she got dressed, they left, reaching the market just as the sun was coming up.

"Hey, Kurt, how are you doing?" Bob greeted him, opening the crates and showing him the fish.

Kurt talked to him and to the other fishermen, trying to get everything ready as quickly as possible, glancing at Emily from time to time, who was standing not far from him, clutching Sammy, yawning and looking barely awake. Finalizing everything, they headed home and, after grabbing some breakfast, they settled on the couch to watch tv and Kurt fought really hard, but his eyes were closing, and he figured that maybe getting more rest wouldn't be such a bad idea.

He was abruptly pulled out of sleep by some loud commercial playing on the TV, but when he glanced at the clock, he was awake in a matter of seconds. He jumped up off the couch, shaking Emily, who was curled up on the other side of the couch, still soundly asleep.

"Wake up, Emily!" He called. "It's after nine, you're late for school, come on!"

Quickly gathering their things, they ran out of the apartment, Kurt hailing a cab, cheering internally that he managed to do it so quickly in the morning traffic. When they reached the school, he escorted Emily to her classroom, thirty minutes late, profusely apologizing to the teacher, taking all of the blame, saying that his alarm didn't go off. Reassured by the teacher that it was okay and that it could happen to anyone, Kurt took a deep breath and left the school, his brain a little clouded after such a morning, in a desperate need of caffeine. All he wanted to do was to get back home and throw himself on his bed and he was well on his way to do so when he remembered that he had to be in the restaurant in one hour. He had to be there earlier that day because of the meeting with the guy that usually supplied them with truffles. He went home, figuring he had time for at least a good cup of coffee and then headed to the restaurant. When he got there, Quinn was already sitting on the bar stool, talking to the man, presumably the truffle seller.

"You're very lucky, I have a new shipment." Kurt heard him say when he entered the restaurant, speaking with an accent, probably Italian. "Oh, hello, chef." The man said when he saw Kurt.

"What do you have for us?" Kurt asked, getting straight to business, too tired for small talk.

"They are from all over the place, Modena, Bologna, Monferrato." The man started listing, taking the black truffles out from the paper bag and showing them to Kurt and Quinn. Kurt lifted one of them to his nose and sniffed, humming in approval and handing it to Quinn.

"What do you have in white?" Kurt asked.

"Ahh, my best product." The man replied, lifting up another paper bag. "Very, very rare at this time of year."

Kurt looked into the bag and then shifted his haze to the guy. "Where did you get them?" He asked curiously.

"You know I never reveal my sources." The man replied with a smirk and Kurt nodded with a smile. How he got them was none of his business, even though it probably wasn't entirely legal, but, as long as the seller was certified, the restaurant could work with him without a problem.

"So, how much for the white?" Kurt asked, wanting to wrap the exchange up.

"Twenty-two hundred a pound." The man replied, but before Kurt had time to reply, Quinn let out a loud gasp.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, ma'am, they're from Alba, the best quality." The man said with a frown.

"No, no, no." Quinn gasped. "I think my water just broke."

"What?!" Kurt turned around abruptly, looking at her with wide eyes. "You're kidding me."

"No, I'm not." Quinn replied with a breathless laugh.

"Call 911!" Kurt called out to the truffle seller, grabbing Quinn's arm and helping her sit down.

"No, no police!" The man said, starting to pack the truffles back in the bags in a rush.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Not for the police, we need an ambulance, she's having a baby!" After making sure he was making the call, Kurt turned back to Quinn. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know!" Quinn said, taking deep breaths, but the smile never leaving her face.

"It's going to be okay, just breathe…" Kurt kept repeating, stroking her arms and breathing deeply himself, to calm down a little.

"Are you trying to reassure me or yourself?" Quinn asked with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." Kurt retorted, no real heat behind it. "Do you want me to call Puck?" Quinn nodded and then the paramedics arrived, immediately checking on her and taking her into the ambulance. After they drove away to the hospital, Kurt followed, waiting anxiously for her husband to arrive. When he did, Kurt decided to stick around to make sure Quinn and the baby were okay, so when Kurt finally got home he was exhausted. He tossed his keys on the shelf and leaned tiredly against the door, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. There was something very exhilarating about accompanying a woman in labor to the hospital, so he was kind of relieved it was already over and he could relax for a while before going to work. The only thing he had left to do, was making some dinner for him and Emily…

Kurt's eyes snapped open and filled with panic. Emily. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit…." He kept muttering as he grabbed the keys back and ran out of the door, quickly hailing a cab when he got outside. He gave the address of the school to the driver and could only hope the little girl wouldn't hate him after that. When they got there, Kurt didn't even wait for the cab to stop completely, he asked the driver to wait and jumped out of the car, frantically looking around in search of his niece. His heart dropped when he noticed her, sitting on the steps of the school, and he quickly ran over.

"Emily." He breathed out. "I am so, so sorry…"

"You forgot me." Emily stated, interrupting him and looking at him blankly.

"No, no, it's just that Quinn's water broke and I had to go with her to the hospital." Kurt rushed out, trying to explain, even though he knew he had fucked up big time. "When we got there I completely lost track of time…"

"You forgot me." Emily repeated, this time louder, her voice quivering slightly at the last word.

Kurt hung his head, defeated. "Yes, I forgot you." He said quietly and before he could add anything else, Emily got up forcefully and stormed in the direction of the cab, getting into the car without a word. With a sigh, he followed her, once again thinking about how he just wasn't fit to be a parent and wondering how the hell Finn could think Emily would be happy with him. The wave of regret washed over him when the thought of disappointing his brother came to his mind and he swore to himself that he would do better. He had to – Finn was counting on him, no matter where he was.

When they got home, Emily went straight to her room, not bothering to take her boots or coat off, and slammed the door before Kurt had time to follow her. A few minutes passed, Kurt standing still in the hall, thinking what to do next. He was so tempted to leave her alone for now, let her be, but he knew that wasn't the right way to go. Taking a deep breath, he knocked softly on the door and opened it slowly, without waiting for a reply. Emily was lying on the bed, her back to the door, and she didn't move an inch when he came in.

"Emily…" He started, the girl still not acknowledging him. "I am so sorry. I just…" Kurt stopped and looked up at the ceiling, helplessly trying to find the right thing to say. Finally, he gave up. "I know I'm doing everything wrong." He admitted quietly. "But… but I'm trying, I'm doing my best, Em, and I swear I'll try harder." He swallowed down heavily and kept going. "Look. Tell me what I can do to make it up to you. Anything."

Emily slowly turned around and looked up at him, not looking so sad anymore which made Kurt breathe a little easier. "Like… Like a wish?" She asked, looking at him hesitantly.

"Yes, sure." Kurt quickly agreed, happy and relieved they were making some progress. "Tell me your wish and I'll do my best to make it happen."

Emily looked down, biting her lip, with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Can I get back to you on that?" She asked, fiddling with her fingers.

"Absolutely." Kurt said and deciding to give her some time, he turned around to leave the room.

"And Kurt?" Emily's voice made him stop and turn back to look at her. "You're not doing everything wrong." She said with a small smile, which made Kurt think, for the first time in a while, that maybe he would be able to do this. That maybe, he would eventually figure out how to be the person that Emily needed him to be and that he wouldn't let his brother down.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Kurt?" Emily asked casually on one Saturday when they were taking a walk through the park. "You're not working tomorrow, are you?"

"Nope." Kurt replied with a smile, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, enjoying the sunny, autumn day. They kept walking, Kurt on the ground, like a normal human being and Emily on the benches, gracefully stepping above the arms between the seats.

"And Blaine isn't working either?" Emily asked again after a while, making Kurt slow down and look at her.

"No, he's not." He said, wondering what was on her mind. "It's Sunday, we're closed."

"Okay." Emily said and gestured for him to lean closer and started whispering in his ear.

"Why?" Kurt asked when she was done, not believing what he had just heard.

Emily shrugged with a smile. "It's my wish."

Later that day, when Kurt was already in the restaurant, he kept thinking about how to bring up Emily's idea. At the end, he just decided to go with it. _Damn Emily and her ideas,_ Kurt thought sourly when the meeting began and the waiters started presenting their menu for that day.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked when they finished the usual briefing and everyone was heading to the kitchen. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Blaine replied easily and they waited until they were alone in the room. "What's up?"

Kurt fiddled nervously with his fingers. "So, a couple of days ago Emily and I had a little fight and, well, it was my fault." He started and Blaine winced sympathetically. "Anyway, I told her I'd do anything to make it up to her, like a wish." He stopped, not knowing how to say the rest, but Blaine was calmly waiting for him to continue, so he took a deep breath and kept going. "Yesterday, she made up her mind and… Well, her wish is for you to come to our place for dinner, preferably an Italian one." He said, rolling his eyes at the last part. "Emily's idea, not mine, like I said."

"Yeah, I get that part, no worries." Blaine said with a chuckle. "I'd love to come. And I don't mind cooking." He added with a wink when Kurt opened his mouth to say something. "Is noon okay with you?" He asked and at Kurt's nod, he grinned. "Perfect. I'll do the shopping." He said and headed to the kitchen, leaving Kurt dumbfounded for a second before he got himself together and followed Blaine to the kitchen.

* * *

The next day, Emily was so excited that she had been up since 8 o'clock in the morning. After breakfast, she had been moping around the apartment, impatiently glancing at the clock every five minutes. A little while before Blaine was supposed to show up, he texted Kurt apologizing and saying he would be fifteen minutes late, and Kurt would have gladly told Emily that if it wasn't for the fact that she had been waiting outside, pacing on the sidewalk since the clock showed 11:30am. Kurt went downstairs and peeked his head outside.

"Don't you want to wait inside? It's freezing!" He called, hoping he would be able to knock some sense into her.

"He's late!" Was the only response he got and he could have sworn he heard Emily mutter something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "ugh, men!" and he couldn't help but giggle – hearing an eight year old sound like a bitter middle aged woman was all kinds of amusing. With a shake of his head, he went back up, and sometime later, judging by Emily's excited squeals, Blaine finally arrived. They stumbled through the door, Blaine's face barely visible from behind all of the grocery bags he was carrying, Emily right next to him, jumping around excitedly.

"Hey there, chef." Blaine greeted Kurt with a wink, as Emily led him to the kitchen. Worrying slightly about his favorite place in the apartment, Kurt headed there right after them, just in time to see Blaine dropping his bags on the chairs and table and swatting Kurt's hands when he reached for one of the boxes inside.

"Nu-uh." He shook his head, taking the box from Kurt's hands and putting it in the fridge. "Not touching my Tupperware." He said with a wink and then looked around the kitchen. "Now tell me. Do you have a cast-iron pan?"

Kurt looked at him incredulously, raising his eyebrow. "Of course I have a cast-iron pan."

"Great." Blaine grinned, tying the apron he took out of one of the bags. "Here's the plan. Emily and I make dinner, and only Emily and I." He said, grabbing Kurt's shoulder and steering him out of the kitchen.

"But I could help!" Kurt tried to protest.

"But it's my wish." Emily said with a smile and firmly kicked him out of the kitchen, closing the door behind him. Sensing he had no way to win this battle, he shrugged and headed to his bedroom to busy himself somehow, hoping those two clowns wouldn't turn his kitchen into one big, messy disaster. Before he closed his bedroom door, he heard Italian music playing and Blaine's voice calling out to Emily. "Okay, sous-chef, put on your apron and let's get to work we're making pizza!"

After what felt like eternity, Kurt heard Emily's footsteps, running through the hall, followed by the knocking on his door. "Kurt, we're ready!" She called. When he opened the door, she pointed to his feet. "No shoes." When Kurt obliged, toeing them off, she told him to close his eyes and took his hand, leading him through the apartment. Stumbling a little, they finally reached their destination and Kurt was allowed to open his eyes. What he saw made him speechless because in his living room, there was a big tent made out of sheets, spread above the blankets put on the floor, surrounded by Emily's stuffed animals. The plates with food were right in the middle, the room lit only by candles and a small lamp standing in the corner of the room. Blaine was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the blanket, smiling softly, looking pretty proud of himself.

"Well, I guess, we're not eating at the table." Kurt stated with a small grin, as Emily led him to the tent.

"We don't have one." Emily said, looking at him as if he was crazy. "We're on safari!"

"Ahh, I see." Kurt nodded with understanding, sitting down on the blanket. "Oh, you forgot plates." He said, trying to get up, but Blaine grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"No, no, no plates." He said and when Kurt sat back down, he leaned forward. "Dirty dishes attract the big cats." He whispered, looking at Kurt with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Well, we certainly don't want them to come." Kurt replied, playing along and the look on Emily's face was definitely worth it.

The dinner was actually amazing and Kurt found himself having a lot of fun. Blaine was great with Emily, patiently listening to all of her stories, seeming genuinely interested, asking the right questions and enjoying the conversation. The food was delicious as well, though it would probably take more time for Kurt to admit it aloud. Truth be told, Blaine was a great person and Kurt felt a little bad for being such a jerk to him when they first started working together.

Time seemed to fly by and they completely lost track of time, and were reminded of how late it was when they saw that Emily was sleeping on the blanket, hugging one of her animals tightly.

"I should take her to bed." He whispered, but Blaine stopped him.

"Let me?" He asked and when Kurt nodded, he gently picked Emily up, slowly walking in the direction of her room. Kurt grabbed the coffee cups and the dishes to take them to the kitchen, but stopped in the hallway just to see Blaine entering Emily's room and realized how domestic it felt. And, what was even more surprising, how good and perfect it felt, and briefly wondered when exactly he stopped wanting this, someone to share his evenings with and someone to feel safe with.

"So, tell me, where did you go to cooking school?" Kurt asked when Blaine came back and they started to clean up the living room.

"As a young child, I sat on my grandmother's knee…" Blaine started as if he was about to tell the greatest fairytale that had ever existed, but Kurt was having none of that.

"Right, in Florida." He interrupted with a smirk, making Blaine laugh.

"Ohio, actually." He corrected and Kurt's smile fell, which Blaine immediately noticed. "Bad memories?" He asked softly.

"I'm from Lima, so yeah, you could say that." Kurt replied and Blaine's eyes widened in shock.

"You're kidding, I'm from Westerville!" He exclaimed. "Wow, we were living two hours apart, we could have met a long time ago." He said, eliciting only a hum from Kurt. "Do you visit often?"

"Not at all." Kurt shook his head. "I got out of there as soon as I could, never looked back. My brother was always the one coming here if we wanted to meet."

"Oh, so he stayed there?" Blaine asked softly, sensing how delicate the subject was.

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "He and Emily were actually on their way from Ohio to visit me when…" He stopped in the middle of the sentence, feeling the painful pang in his chest. "But let's not dampen the mood, shall we?" He said, trying to sound bright, forcing a smile on his face. If Blaine noticed, and Kurt was pretty sure he did, he didn't say anything and for that Kurt was grateful.

"So, let's get back to your cooking roots." Kurt said, returning to their earlier conversation. "You did go to cooking school, right?" He asked curiously.

Not commenting on the sudden change of subject, Blaine went along with it. "My father wasn't exactly supportive, you know." He said, his face growing more serious for a moment. "So going to cooking school instead of studying law or medicine? That wouldn't have worked. So, after high school, I left and never looked back."

"Where did you go?" Kurt asked, intrigued.

"Backpacking through Italy." Blaine replied, the memory making him smile. "I met a great guy, an older man. He hired me in his restaurant, taught me everything he knew, making me fall in love with Italian food. Everything Italian, actually." He added with a small laugh.

"He sounds great." Kurt admitted truthfully.

"He was." Blaine agreed. "After that, I spent the next couple of years working in some of the best restaurants in Milan."

"So, how come you're not running your own kitchen by now?" Kurt asked, genuinely interested in why, with such a talent and amazing skills, this man wasn't a main chef in some prestigious restaurant in New York.

There was a short moment of silence, during which Blaine seemed to think about how to answer. "I don't know." He finally said. "I guess the right offer hasn't come to me yet."

Sensing that it was an uncomfortable topic, Kurt moved to put the dishes into the dishwasher and decided to change the subject. "So, what would you do if you had your wish?" He asked, referring to the deal he had made with Emily that led them to having this dinner.

Snapping himself out of the thoughtful state, Blaine walked up to the fridge and opening it. "I already got my wish." He said, smiling softly at Kurt, making his insides flip, looking for the container he had put there earlier. Finding it, he took it out and showed its content to Kurt. "I made it this morning."

"I'm not really a dessert person." Kurt admitted, which made Blaine snort and look at him challengingly.

"You haven't tried my tiramisu."

They sat down on the floor in the living room, leaning against the couch, the container and a bottle of wine between them. After handing Blaine a glass, Kurt dipped his spoon in the dessert and then put it in his mouth, barely stopping himself from moaning in pleasure. This tiramisu was delicious, one of the best things he had ever eaten, but he wasn't going to give in so easily. He pretended to taste it carefully and after a few seconds more, he gave up.

"Maybe I am a dessert person after all." Kurt conceded, making Blaine smile winningly.

"You have a little something…" Blaine started saying, gesturing at Kurt's mouth, making him try to reach it with his tongue. When he failed, Blaine chuckled quietly. "Here, let me." He said and reached out his hand, wiping the corner of Kurt's mouth with the tip of his finger.

Kurt's heart started beating faster at the touch of Blaine's hand and they looked at each other for a few seconds, neither of them saying anything.

"I should probably get going." Blaine said, not sounding so convincing. He leaned closer and Kurt was sure he was going to kiss him, so he stayed right where he was leaning against the couch, looking into Blaine's eyes.

"You're lying on my scarf." Blaine whispered with a teasing smile, just when Kurt was about to close his eyes and enjoy the kiss. The kiss that had never happened. Shaking himself out of it, he quickly stood up.

"Right." He said, glad he managed to handle himself before things could become very awkward. When Blaine got dressed, he walked him to the door and then, with a simple goodnight, he was gone, leaving Kurt with a turmoil of thoughts. As he got ready for bed, he wondered if he imagined it all or if there really was something between them. Even thinking about a possibility of that frightened Kurt more than anything, but for the first time in a long time, he went to bed thinking that maybe the restaurant and his kitchen weren't making him completely happy and that maybe he had a chance to change it.

* * *

 **Thank you for all the lovely reviews, they make me smile every time I read them :) Keep them coming!**

 **K.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

" _Why don't you tell me more about Blaine?" Dr. Michaels interrupted Kurt's rambling about his newest recipe he had tried out the previous weekend._

" _What about him?" Kurt asked, frowning slightly._

" _Well, you mentioned that he was over for dinner and you seemed pretty happy when you talked about it." Dr. Michaels shrugged, a small smile playing on his face._

" _It was okay. Fun even." Kurt replied, staring at the ceiling._

" _Kurt, when was the last time you were in a relationship?" The therapist suddenly asked, out of nowhere, after a short moment of silence._

" _Isn't that a bit personal?" Kurt asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow._

" _This is therapy." Dr. Michaels smirked. "There's no such thing as personal."_

" _Three or four years ago." Kurt answered the question with a sigh._

" _Was it serious?"_

" _You could say so. We had dated for two years."_

" _So, what happened?" Dr. Michaels asked, the pen in his hand, ready to write something down in his notepad._

" _He became too… demanding." Kurt replied, staring at a point on the wall. When the therapist said nothing, Kurt realized that he wanted him to continue. "He asked me to move in with him." He said, the memory flashing back to that day._

" _Seems like a normal thing, after two years of dating." Dr. Michaels commented casually. "Why did you find it demanding?"_

" _He wanted me to give up my apartment." Kurt said with a shrug. "We would move in together, then something would go wrong, we would break up and I would have nowhere to go. So I ended things with him before that could happen."_

 _Scribbling in his notepad, Dr. Michaels looked at him thoughtfully. "You can't always assume the worst in people, Kurt."_

" _Why not?" Kurt answered with a question, looking at him calmly. "That way I don't get my hopes up until they prove me wrong."_

" _But do you give them a chance to prove you wrong?"_

* * *

"Okay, I'll see you after school." Kurt said to Emily, as they reached the school one morning. When she ran into the building, he was about to leave, but he saw Principal Jones waving at him.

"Mr. Hummel." She said kindly when he walked up to her. "Do you have a minute?"

A little confused, Kurt nodded, entering the building, following the principal to her office. "Is everything okay?" He asked as they sat down, looking at her questioningly.

Principal Jones sighed. "I've been talking to Emily's teacher." She started. "She's been sleeping in class a lot."

Kurt's heart sped up, having a feeling where this was going, but he said nothing, letting the woman continue. "And you know what her explanation for this is?" She asked, shaking her head with a laugh. "She says it's her late work hours. She tells her friends that she's working as a kitchen assistant in your restaurant to earn for her room and food."

Kurt's blood went cold. "I see." He said, his voice sounding strangled, hoping she didn't notice.

"Now, if I actually believed her, believed that she was working late at the restaurant, I'd have to call Child Protective Services." The principal said, looking at Kurt pointedly.

"That won't be necessary." Kurt said, looking her right back in the eye.

"I know that." Principal Jones replied with a comforting smile. "It's always better for everyone when a child stays with a relative after such a tragedy. I'd hate for Emily to end up in foster care, after everything that she's been through." Kurt nodded, agreeing with all of that, his face calm, but, inside, he was a mess. "But I'm confident you will handle this and there won't be a need to go that far." She added and stood up, so did Kurt, and after they shook hands, he left the office, the weight in his chest heaving him down.

Later that day, after Kurt picked Emily up from school, and they were on their way home, Kurt preparing himself for the conversation they had to have. "Emily, I have to talk to you about something." He started, making Emily stop walking and look at him, their eyes on the same level since she was standing on a bench. Having her attention, Kurt took a deep breath. "You can't come to work with me anymore."

"Why not?" Emily asked with a frown.

"Because I'm afraid they're going to take you away from me." Kurt said quietly, silently hoping that she would understand.

"But I like going to the restaurant." Emily replied, looking at him with confusion.

"I know, honey, I know you do." Kurt said, trying his best to explain. "But it's just not right for a little girl to be up so late."

Emily's eyes started filling up with tears and Kurt's heart broke, that's exactly what he was afraid would happen. "You don't want me there." She accused him, her voice breaking.

"No, that's not true." Kurt rushed to deny. "No, you just need to get a good night's rest." He said, but Emily wasn't looking at him anymore, her back turned to him, shaking slightly, a clear sign that she was crying. "You don't want to end up being taken away, right?" He asked, hoping that would come through to her senses. Apparently not.

"Who cares?" Emily asked, turning back to him, tears streaming down her face. "You didn't want me anyway!" She yelled and jumped from the bench, starting running in the direction of the apartment.

"Emily!" Kurt called out, sprinting after her, panicking when he saw her cross the streets without even looking around, the cars horning and coming to a screeching halt when she ran right in front of them. He followed her, and it was a miracle that neither one of them ended up hit by a car. He finally caught up with her, right in front of the entrance to their building.

"Emily, stop!" He grabbed her arm, effectively stopping her, and turning her around.

"Let me go!" She screamed through tears, struggling against his hold. "I want my daddy, not you!" She shouted and Kurt let her go, freezing in shock. He watched her run back to the apartment, as he stood there on the pavement, his eyes welling up as well because, truth to be told her words hurt. In the worst way possible.

A few minutes later, he decided to head upstairs. Emily must have used her set of keys to get in the apartment because she wasn't anywhere to be seen. He entered the apartment, closing the door quietly behind him and took off his shoes and coat. Hesitantly, he headed to Emily's room, swallowing the lump forming in his throat. He knocked lightly on the door and, when he got no response, he opened it.

"Emily?" He asked quietly. "Can I come in?"

"No." The little girl replied from where she was lying on the bed, on her side, her back turned to the door. In front of her, there was a photo album, the one with the pictures of Finn in it.

Kurt sighed. "Emily, please. I'm sorry." He pleaded, trying to apologize, not sure what for exactly, but he had to try.

"Go away." Emily said quietly, not looking at him, her eyes not leaving the album in front of her.

Giving up, Kurt turned around and left the room. Closing the door behind him, he could hear the quiet sniffles coming from the room, but there was nothing he could do, even though his heart was breaking all over again. Mindlessly moping around the apartment, he passed the time doing nothing productive, until he had to go to the restaurant. Coming up with only one solution, he grabbed his spare key to the apartment and walked downstairs, one floor below his, and, sighing deeply, he knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, Adam looking at him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, two boys around Emily's age playing soccer in the living room behind him.

"Kurt." He said with a kind smile. "How are you?"

"I'm good." Kurt lied. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course." Adam instantly replied, with no hesitation.

"I know it's last minute…" Kurt started, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "But Emily and I had a fight, and I have to go to work soon."

Adam smiled with understanding. "You want me to keep an eye on her?"

"If you could just check on her from time to time." Kurt said, smiling slightly when one of the boys almost hit Adam with the ball.

"No problem." Adam said, throwing the ball back to his kids.

"Thank you, Adam. I really appreciate it." Kurt smiled gratefully, handing him a key to his apartment and was about to leave, but then Adam spoke again.

"Kurt, and how are you doing with all of this?" He asked with a sad smile.

"Well, it's all pretty new to me." Kurt replied, trying not to sound too resigned.

"I might know how to help." Adam said, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. "Call this number. It's Mary, she's amazing with kids, she helped me a lot after my divorce." He handed a paper to Kurt. "I'm sure she'll be able to stay with Emily, whenever you might need."

"Thank you." Kurt said, putting the number in his pocket and with one last smile, he walked back upstairs to grab his coat. He called out to Emily that he was leaving, not getting a response which wasn't really surprising, and then headed to work. In the restaurant, it must have been quite obvious that he was in a sour mood because everyone was walking on eggshells around him and trying their best to get out of his way. Well, almost everyone.

" _Mr. Hummel introduces bits of truffle in an endive salad that accompanied a lightly steamed and wondrously silken halibut fillet._ " Blaine walked up to him, as Kurt was wiping the counter, holding a newspaper and reading the review out loud. " _It was highlighted by the gorgeous aria of his saffron-infused emulsion_." He kept reading and snorted. "This guy can't decide if you're a cook or a composer." He stated with a small laugh. " _The artistry of his signature quail with truffles made it clear that she brought in a great sous-chef to complement her distinctive style_."

That made Kurt pause, breaking him out of his thoughts and he stopped wiping the counter to look at Blaine. "It says that?"

Blaine grinned. "Just making sure you're paying attention." When Kurt smiled thinly and resumed the wiping, Blaine walked closer, nudging his shoulder. "You look like you need a drink."

"I never drink at work." Kurt replied, not looking at him, once again wondering if he was so easy to read. _God, a drink actually sounds amazing,_ Kurt thought bitterly, missing Blaine walking around the table until he leaned down to level their heads and look him in the eye.

"We'll see about that." Blaine said with a wink and walked away, leaving Kurt alone, wondering what the hell he meant by that.

When the restaurant opened and the orders started flowing to the kitchen, Kurt quickly forgot about his conversation with Blaine, focusing on the multiple dishes he had to prepare. He still wasn't perfectly fine, Emily's words still echoing painfully inside his head, but cooking, being at work, it all helped a little. After they were done for the day, Kurt went to the back room to get changed, being the last person, as always, so he took his time. When he got out, he expected the kitchen to be completely empty, like it usually was, but not this time. With a surprise, he saw Blaine, sitting at one of the metal tables, dressed in his casual clothes, two plates, two glasses and a bottle of wine standing on the table, the music playing quietly from the radio.

"How about drinking now?" Blaine asked, grinning wickedly and Kurt shook his head with amusement. Figuring there was no way out of this, he walked to the table and sat down.

"So, what am I eating?" He asked, eyeing the food curiously.

"Pasta with a lime pesto." Blaine replied, sitting down as well. "Forgive me that it's not something more sophisticated, but there's only so much one can make during his short breaks between preparing the meals for the very hungry customers." He said, shrugging with a smirk.

"It's perfect." Kurt said, smiling at Blaine who was pouring the wine into their glasses. They started eating, and Kurt had to admit, the pasta was _heavenly._

 _Who knew,_ Kurt thought, _looks like I'm becoming a fan of Italian cuisine._

 _Or maybe it's not the cuisine you're a fan of,_ his brain supplied when Kurt glanced at Blaine who was taking a sip of the wine, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed it, Kurt quickly turning his gaze away and pushing that thought away.

"So, what happened today?" Blaine asked conversationally.

"It's… it's a long story." Kurt replied, sighing, his earlier confrontation with Emily coming back to him.

"I have all night." Blaine said softly, propping his elbows on the table, leaning forward and focusing all of his attention on Kurt. So Kurt told him. He was surprised by how comfortable he was with sharing this with Blaine, by how it didn't feel forced at all. He told him everything, starting with the conversation with Principal Jones. Then, he proceeded to tell him about how everything went wrong in the park, how he tried to make her understand, but to no avail.

During the entire time, Blaine kept listening to him intently, his eyes never leaving Kurt's face, humming at the right moments, grabbing Kurt's hand and stroking it comfortingly, when he told him how scared he was when Emily was running between the cars, his voice breaking slightly.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it like that, Kurt." Blaine said quietly when Kurt repeated Emily's words, about not wanting him. "She's just eight. No matter how much she pretends and states otherwise, she's still just a little girl missing her dad."

"I know." Kurt whispered, aware that Blaine was still holding his hand, but, surprisingly, not minding at all. "But…" He started, but then paused, not wanting to sound like a whiny child.

"But it still hurt." Blaine finished for him and when Kurt looked up with surprise, he smiled softly. "Of course it did, you're doing your best."

Kurt gulped, blinking rapidly when he felt his eyes welling up. Noticing, Blaine squeezed his hand. "Give her time." He said and then took the bottle of wine to refill their empty glasses. "How about we move to some lighter topics?"

Kurt nodded gratefully, taking a sip of wine, eager to drink his worries away and not think about them for the rest of the night. Soon enough, one bottle turned to two, as they talked about everything and nothing, laughing at some ridiculous jokes Blaine was telling. The time was flying and, honestly, Kurt couldn't remember when was the last time he had so much fun.

"You seem to be a big fan of music." Kurt commented when the music stopped playing and Blaine got up to turn it on again.

"Oh, definitely." Blaine confirmed, walking back to the table. "I even considered pursuing it after high school, but my love for food and cooking won. But I was in a show choir in high school." He added, grinning at Kurt's shocked expression.

"No kidding!" Kurt gasped, his eyes wide. "Me too!"

This time it was Blaine's turn to look surprised. "Really? You sing? And here I thought you hated it, judging by how you glared at me the first time you saw me singing in your kitchen." He said with a smirk as Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You caught me off guard. Yes, I sing, and yes, I was in a show choir, so was Finn actually." He said, his eyes turning sad for a few seconds. "We have never won anything, but it was fun, I really loved it." Kurt said, melancholy lacing his voice as he remembered dancing around the choir room.

"What range are you?" Blaine asked curiously.

"Countertenor." Kurt said, smirking smugly as Blaine's eyes budged out and he choked on the wine.

"It's settled, I have to hear you sing." He said decisively, Kurt recognizing the look in his eyes as the challenge.

"Maybe in your dreams, Anderson." Kurt replied with a smirk, and reached for the bottle, missing it completely, grabbing the air.

"Okay, I think it's enough." Blaine said with a laugh, grabbing the bottle and setting it aside.

"Oh, come on!" Kurt exclaimed, but then reevaluated when his head starting spinning a little. "I think I'm a little drunk." He giggled.

"Only a little?" Blaine asked, raising his eyebrow skeptically.

"Wait, how are you not drunk?" Kurt asked, eyeing Blaine suspiciously with narrowed eyes.

"In case you didn't notice, I stopped drinking after you basically hogged the bottle to yourself." Blaine replied with a smile. "You needed it more than me tonight, but I think it's time to go home now." He said, standing up and offering his hand to Kurt. Insisting on taking him home by himself, they hailed a cab and spent the entire ride in comfortable silence, their hands loosely joined between them on the backseat. When they got to Kurt's building and started climbing the stairs, Blaine had to hush him a little when Kurt started giggling about something, and when they reached his apartment and Kurt was looking for his keys, the door suddenly opened, Adam coming out, looking surprised to see them.

"Hey, you're back." He said, smiling warmly at Kurt.

"How's Emily?" Kurt asked, regaining some of his mind, completely missing the jealous look Adam shot Blaine and how Blaine stared right back at him, his eyes not so soft anymore.

"She's sleeping, I was just checking on her." Adam replied, looking back at Kurt. "She's a great kid."

"Thank you so much, Adam, again." Kurt said and Adam nodded and after saying goodnight, and shooting one more dirty glance in Blaine's direction, he went back to his apartment.

When he was gone, Kurt stood in the doorway to his apartment and turned back to Blaine. "That was Adam, he lives one floor below, he's such a great friend." He said, completely oblivious of the earlier exchange of looks between Blaine and Adam. "He's always so eager to help, he's a great neighbor."

Blaine shook his head with a laugh. He had no doubt that Kurt believed what he was saying, but he had a feeling Adam hoped for something more than a friend or a nice neighbor. Well, he would have to deal with it because from what it looked like, he had absolutely no interest in the British man, which probably shouldn't make Blaine as happy as it did.

"Take an aspirin." Blaine said, leaning closer and kissing Kurt softly on the cheek. "Goodnight." He said and then walked downstairs.

"Goodnight." Kurt whispered, mostly to himself since Blaine couldn't hear him anymore, touching his cheek with a smile, still able to feel the soft touch of Blaine's lips, his heart fluttering as he replayed it in his head. Closing the door quietly, he took off his coat and, after a quick visit to the bathroom and taking an aspirin, he headed to bed, falling asleep in a matter of seconds.

He was woken up sometime later by steps in the hall. Opening his eyes, he saw Emily walking towards the living room. After a few moments, quiet voices sounded from the room, so Kurt got up and quietly followed the noise. When he got closer, he noticed the light coming from the tv and when he reached the door, he saw Emily sitting on the floor. On the screen, there was Finn and Emily, running around the beach. It was filmed during one of the holidays the two of them took, Finn mailing the CD with the recording to Kurt after they came back.

Without saying anything, Kurt entered the room and sat on the floor, next to Emily. Finn's smiling face showed up on the screen and Kurt felt a pang in his chest. He glanced at Emily and seeing the tears in her eyes, he hesitantly wrapped his arm around her. To his surprise, she didn't pull back, but leaned into the touch, snuggling into him as they kept watching. When the recording ended, they sat in silence for a few minutes and then got up, walking to Emily's room. Kurt was about to leave her after he tucked her in, but her voice stopped him.

"Can you stay with me tonight?" She whispered timidly and Kurt nodded, climbing on to her bed and hugging her closely. He wanted to stay awake until she fell asleep, in case she needed anything else and when he felt her breath even out, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes, falling asleep soon after her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the slight delay, but here it is, I hope this chapter will make it up to you ;)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

When Kurt woke up the next morning, he opened his eyes and shook Emily lightly to wake her up. "It's time to get up, sweetie." He said quietly when she started stirring.

Slowly, Emily opened her eyes. "I don't want to go to school today." She whispered.

"You know what." Kurt said with a smile, making her look at him curiously. "I don't want to go to work today."

"Really?" Emily asked, her voice hopeful.

"Yeah. Today's just going to be you and me."

And it was a fantastic day. They slept in, getting out of bed around 10am, something Kurt hadn't done in a very long time. Somehow, they ended up in a pillow fight, chasing each other through the entire apartment, laughing and squealing, leaving the feathers from the pillows all over the place. After breakfast, they spent the whole day playing probably every board game they owned, focusing mostly on Monopoly, both of them too stubborn and competitive to let go, so whenever one of them won, the other one wanted a rematch immediately. They also took a long walk through the park and when they got back, they ordered a pizza and watched some mindless cartoons on TV. It was great and, what was even more important, Kurt felt like he and Emily were finally making more progress, their relationship growing stronger, and Kurt decided that playing hooky that day was one of his best ideas. The only thing that wasn't so great about the day was the lack of Blaine, the thought making Kurt stop what he was currently doing and making him realize that he liked Blaine far more than he thought.

After Emily went to bed, Kurt tried to read for a while, but exhausted after the long day, he decided to head to bed early that night. He was already dozing off, absolutely ready to fully drift to sleep, when suddenly, the doorbell rang, making him open his eyes abruptly and jump violently.

"What the hell…" He muttered and dragged himself out of bed, walking to the intercom. The person on the other side was the last one he expected, although, to be honest, he should have known.

"Hey, do you know how freezing it is?" Blaine's cheerful voice came through the intercom. "Let me in?"

Knowing better than to question or argue, Kurt buzzed Blaine in and opened the door, waiting for him to come up. When he saw him, he eyed him suspiciously. There was Blaine, standing right in front of him with a big smile on his face and… a food container in his hands. "Do I even want to know what's in there?" He asked with narrowed eyes, gesturing at the container.

"Soup." Blaine said, pushing through Kurt to come inside. "And we're going to test your taste buds." He added and before Kurt even had time to comprehend it, Blaine was already in the kitchen. Glancing at the clock, Kurt realized that it wasn't that late, just before midnight, so Blaine must have headed to Kurt's place a little after the restaurant closed.

They set up at the table, sitting at opposite sides, the food container standing between them. Kurt had a scarf tied around his eyes, though he had no idea what was the point, it's not like seeing the soup would help him guess what it was made of. But he obliged because, well, there was yet a person to be found that could resist Blaine's puppy eyes.

"The restaurant wasn't the same without you tonight." Blaine said conversationally while he was preparing everything.

"I'm sure you did just fine without me." Kurt replied with a shrug.

"We did." Blaine agreed, making Kurt take the scarf from his eyes and look at him with his eyebrow raised. "It was hell." Blaine corrected himself quickly with a smile.

"That's better." Kurt grinned and put the blindfold back on his eyes.

"Okay, ready?" Blaine asked and when Kurt nodded, he slowly lifted the spoon to his mouth. Kurt smelled it first and after tasting it with the tip of his tongue, he opened his mouth and Blaine pushed the spoon inside.

"Hmmm." He hummed, letting the soup whet his taste buds. "Cognac." At Blaine's affirmative hum, he continued. "White wine… Leek, shallots… Celery… And garlic."

"Very good." Blaine said and lifted the spoon again, Kurt feeling its pressure against his lips. He was about to open his mouth when suddenly, the pressure was replaced with a soft touch of lips. Blaine's lips. Shocked at first, he gasped, but then instantly opened his mouth, deepening the kiss and he could hear Blaine dropping the spoon on the table. Suddenly, the blindfold disappeared and he was faced with Blaine's hazel eyes, shining in the dark room, slightly darker than usually.

"I'm also getting truffle." He said and, burying his fingers in Blaine's hair, he pulled him closer and kissed him again, more passionately, but after a second, he pulled away, shaking his head.

"I think…" He started, but Blaine cupped his face softly, lifting his chin to make him look at him.

"Shhh." He whispered. "Don't think." He said and leaned closer, stopping right before their lips could touch, leaving the decision to Kurt. After only a brief moment of hesitation, Kurt closed the gap, standing up and wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck. Blaine rested his hands on Kurt's hips, squeezing them softly. After they kept kissing for what seemed like eternity, Kurt broke the kiss and leaned their foreheads together.

"Bedroom?" He asked quietly, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

"Lead the way." Blaine whispered back, his breath ghosting on Kurt's lips. Pecking him one last time, Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and walked him to his room. After closing the door, Kurt turned back to Blaine, putting his hands on his chest and gently backing him until they reached the bed. Blaine sat down on the edge, looking up at Kurt with his eyes full of lust. Kurt kneeled down on the bed, his knees framing Blaine's thighs, straddling him and Blaine wrapped his arms tightly around Kurt's waist to make him steady. Having the height advantage, he buried his fingers in Blaine's curls, thankful the other man didn't use any gel that day, and pulled gently, tilting Blaine's head back. He kissed him slowly, not wanting to rush, but he had a hard time controlling himself, and judging by how tight he was holding him, Blaine did as well. After a moment, Kurt felt Blaine licking his bottom lip and opened his mouth without hesitation, shoving his tongue into Blaine's mouth, the kiss growing more passionate and sensual with every second. Blaine must have felt it too because, suddenly, one arm still firmly around Kurt's waist, he lied back, pulling Kurt with him, and after they crawled up the bed, he turned them around, lying on top of Kurt, his body pinning Kurt down in the best way possible. They started kissing again, Kurt slowly running his hands down Blaine's back, until he reached the bottom of his shirt.

"Off?" Kurt mumbled against Blaine's lips, tugging slightly on the hem of the shirt. Biting on Kurt's lip, making him moan quietly, Blaine sat up and quickly pulled the shirt over his head, tossing it aside, revealing his broad chest, making Kurt's mouth water.

"I'm feeling a little lonely here." Blaine said with a smirk, tracing the buttons of Kurt's shirt with his fingers. At Kurt's nod, he started unbuttoning it and when he was done, Kurt sat up as well, Blaine still straddling him, and rolled the shirt off his shoulders, throwing it away, not even caring when it landed somewhere on the floor. They lied back, both moaning when their bare chests touched, Kurt running his hands down Blaine's arms and squeezing them tightly, when Blaine started kissing his jaw, making his way down to his neck, making Kurt tilt his head back, baring his neck as much as possible.

"Kurt, you're so gorgeous." Blaine breathed out against Kurt's skin, proceeding to suck on a particularly sensitive spot, making Kurt whine in pleasure and roll his hips against Blaine's, and groaning again when they rubbed against each other, both completely hard.

"I was about to say the same thing." Kurt said and tilted his head slightly to lick and bite on Blaine's ear lobe, making him moan, his face still buried in the crook of Kurt's neck. Trailing light kisses along his jaw, Blaine came back to kiss Kurt hard on his mouth, starting rutting down on him, Kurt moving his hips up, both finding the perfect rhythm. When Kurt felt himself getting close, he broke the kiss and grabbed Blaine's shoulders to stop him.

"Wait, wait." He said, panting.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, out of breath as well, his voice so thick with arousal that, for a few seconds, Kurt had trouble remembering why they stopped.

"Nothing. I just want more than that." Kurt said, smirking slightly when Blaine's eyes widened.

"Oh, thank god, I thought you wanted to stop." He said and reached down to Kurt's belt, quickly undoing it. He slid down, pulling Kurt's pants along with him, leaving him in a pair of tight, black boxers that left very little to the imagination. Quickly getting rid of his own pants, he crawled back on top of Kurt, both men moaning when their cocks rubbed against each other, with only a thin layer of cotton between them. "What do you want?" Blaine asked, looking at Kurt intently, his eyes shining with lust.

Kurt yanked him down, kissing him hard and, judging by Blaine's glazed eyes when he pulled out, successfully turning his brain into mush. "Fuck me." He muttered against his lips, making Blaine's eyes widen.

"God, yes." He muttered. "And here I thought you were too controlling to bottom." He teased lightly with a smile, earning himself a swat on the head from Kurt.

"Don't you have something to do?" Kurt asked with a raised eyebrow, gesturing at the nightstand.

"Right." Blaine said and leaned over Kurt to open the drawer and grab a bottle of lube and a box of condoms. Tossing them on the bed, he got back to Kurt, pulled his boxers down, his cock springing free, long and hard, with pre cum gathering at the end. Grabbing the lube, he uncapped the bottle and poured it on his fingers, settling between Kurt's widely spread legs and started to circle his hole.

"Just… go slow. It's been a while." Kurt muttered, looking away, a little embarrassed, by what he wasn't exactly sure.

Blaine stopped what he was doing and hovered above Kurt, tilting his head back and kissing him lightly. "Of course." He said, looking at him softly and with one last peck, he returned to the spot between Kurt's legs. Slowly, he pushed one finger in, making Kurt gasp. Giving him time to adjust, Blaine waited patiently, leaving a trail of kisses on his thighs and hips, and feeling his body relax, he started moving his finger back and forth. After a while the burn subsided and was replaced by pleasure, and Kurt was about to tell Blaine to add another finger, but the words died in his throat when, without any warning, Blaine sank his mouth on Kurt's cock, taking in almost the whole length. Kurt gasped at the sensation, throwing his head back when Blaine's tongue lapped lazily around his cock, and biting his fist not to make too much noise. The last thing they needed was Emily waking up and coming in to Kurt's room.

Blaine started bobbing his head up and down and moving his finger in the same rhythm, and, seconds later, he swiftly inserted a second finger, Kurt barely noticing, too busy trying not to thrust his hips up, not wanting to choke Blaine. Sucking on the tip of his cock, Blaine scissored his fingers, making Kurt arch his back, whining in pure pleasure, fisting the sheets.

"Come on, Blaine." He panted, rolling his hips, trying to fuck himself down on Blaine's fingers.

"I don't want to hurt you." Blaine muttered, pulling his mouth away from Kurt's cock, adding a third finger. After a short moment, he pulled them out completely, making Kurt whine at the loss and emptiness. Blaine quickly took his underwear off, grabbing a condom and tearing the foil with his teeth, all under Kurt's lustful gaze that made his hands shake a little. He rolled the condom on his cock and coated it with lube, and positioned himself between Kurt's legs, guiding his cock into Kurt's hole.

"You ready?" Blaine asked, just to make sure, when the tip of his cock was right against Kurt's hole.

"Yes, yes, god, yes." Kurt rushed out, the light pressure driving him crazy, moving his hips impatiently.

That was all Blaine needed. Slowly, he pushed in, making Kurt gasp and grab Blaine's shoulders to ground himself, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to get used to the stretch. When Blaine bottomed out, he stilled, hovering above Kurt, his arms on the sides of Kurt's head. They were both breathing harshly for a few seconds, and then Kurt opened his eyes and nodded. "You can move."

Blaine started rolling his hips, slowly building up the rhythm, gradually speeding up his thrusts. The sounds of skin slapping against skin and their moans and gasps filled the room, their bodies glistening with sweat. Kurt wrapped his legs around Blaine's waist, changing the angle and making Blaine hit right against his prostate almost with every thrust. As Kurt's moans got louder, Blaine crashed their lips together to make him quiet, kissing him sloppily as he raised himself a little to have a better leverage. He started thrusting harder, his cock sliding in and out of Kurt perfectly, fucking him just right. Not breaking their lips apart, although they weren't even kissing anymore, only panting into each other's mouths, Kurt kept scratching on Blaine's back, probably leaving marks, but none of them cared.

"B-blaine…" Kurt stuttered when he felt he was close and Blaine sneaked his hand down to Kurt's cock, starting to jerk him off and moving his mouth to Kurt's neck, sucking on that sensitive spot he had discovered earlier that evening. Kurt kept thrusting up, chasing his release and Blaine shifting his hips, hitting his prostate, tightening his grip on Kurt's cock and sucking on his neck, all of that pushed him right over the edge, and he bit down on Blaine's shoulder to muffle the moaning as he came, his vision turning white for a few seconds. Blaine moaned loudly against Kurt's skin when he felt him tighten around his cock, thrusting few times more before he came, pulsing inside Kurt and collapsing on top of him. They lied like this for a few minutes, trying to catch their breaths and slowly coming back to reality. Eventually, Blaine slowly pulled out, kissing Kurt apologetically when he hissed, suddenly feeling too empty. He rolled down the condom, tying it and throwing it to the bin standing next to Kurt's bed, and lied on his back, turning his head to face Kurt, smiling widely. Kurt, after he regained the feeling in his limbs, turned on his side and threw his arm around him, lying his head on his chest, cuddling closely and listening to Blaine's heartbeat gradually slowing down. He smiled giddily against Blaine's skin when he felt his arms circling him and pulling him even closer.

"Do you want me to go?" Blaine asked quietly, after a while when Kurt was pretty sure he was already asleep. Frowning, he lifted his head and looked at Blaine with confusion.

"Do you want to go?" He asked, the worry washing over him, scared that he read too much into the situation.

"No, of course not." Blaine replied with a shake of his head, his voice warm and soft, instantly soothing Kurt's worries. "But what about Emily?"

"I'm pretty sure she's been trying to set us up since the moment she met you." Kurt said with a grin.

"In that case, I'm staying." Blaine said with a smile, his eyes shining happily.

"Good." Kurt muttered and tilted his head to meet Blaine halfway when he leaned down to kiss him. They were trading slow kisses, too tired to do anything else and Blaine chuckled quietly when Kurt suddenly yawned, immediately turning red and biting his lip. Blaine kissed the tip of his nose, making Kurt giggle and, figuring it was time to sleep, he made himself comfortable, lying his head back on Blaine's chest, not able to remember when he last felt so safe and secure in someone's arms. He was on the verge of falling asleep, but then he remembered something.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked sleepily, eliciting a questioning hum from him. "You remember how you told Rachel that Bocelli makes sex better?"

Blaine snorted, the laughter bubbling out of him, his chest shaking a little under Kurt's head. "Yeah?"

"Bullshit. It can't get any better than this."

* * *

When morning came, the light sneaking in between the curtains, Kurt woke up and immediately smiled. They must have moved during the night because now, he was lying on his side, Blaine spooning him from behind, tightly pressed against his back. Feeling the puffs of Blaine's breath on the back of his neck, Kurt raised himself a little, as much as he could with Blaine's arms around him and looked at the clock. It was just after 7am and, for once, Kurt was grateful for his internal clock, seeing as he forgot to set the alarm. Images from the night before came back flowing into his mind and he couldn't help but grin wider, replaying it in his head. He turned around in Blaine's arms until they were lying face to face, and traced the lines of Blaine's mouth with his fingers.

"Blaine." He said quietly, but with no result other than a soft whine while Blaine tried to bury himself deeper in the pillow. Chuckling, Kurt buried his fingers in Blaine's curls and started scratching his scalp lightly, and finally, after a few moments of stirring, Blaine opened his eyes.

"Hi." He said, smiling sleepily, leaning forward for a kiss and pouting adorably when Kurt gently pushed him away with a finger on his lips.

"Nu-uh, morning breath." Kurt said, trying to get up, not making much progress, Blaine was quite strong for someone who was barely awake.

"I don't mind." Blaine whined, trying to kiss him again, only to be dodged by Kurt, getting a peck on his cheek instead.

"But I do." Kurt said with a smirk and finally managed to sit up when Blaine's grip on him loosened a little.

"Fine." Blaine huffed and stretched with a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Just after seven." Kurt replied, making Blaine groan loudly.

"God, why are we up that early?" He whined, wrapping himself tightly with the blankets.

"Because it's Thursday, you sleepy head, and Emily has school." Kurt said, getting up and picking up their clothes from the floor, blushing a little when he remembered how they got there. Looking back at Blaine, curled up in a blanket burrito, he smiled softly. "But you can go back to sleep while we get ready."

"No, no, I'm up." The voice came from under the blankets and then Blaine emerged, sitting up. "Do we tell her something specific about me being here or…?" He asked, looking at Kurt questioningly.

Kurt thought for a few seconds and then shrugged. "Let's just see what happens."

Giving Blaine a spare toothbrush, they brushed their teeth in the bathroom, playfully shoving each other when they were crowded next to the sink. After that, Blaine finally got the kiss he had been demanding since the moment he woke up, which turned out to be a little longer than expected. A little out of breath, Kurt pulled away and, with one last peck, he headed back to the bedroom to get dressed, knowing that if they kept going, they would probably end up in bed again and, no matter how appealing that sounded, there was no time for that. Not having any other clothes, Blaine put on the ones he wore the day before and both of them headed to the kitchen. Deciding to make pancakes, Blaine headed to Emily's room, and throwing himself on the bed next to her.

"Pancake time!" He yelled, tickling Emily and laughing loudly when she started squealing.

"Blaine! What are you doing here?" She asked, out of breath, after they calmed down.

"I _was_ going to make pancakes for breakfast." Blaine replied with a grin. "But I need my sous-chef. Want to help me?" He asked and Emily nodded, quickly getting out of bed and running to the bathroom. When they got back to the kitchen, they started working, Blaine making the batter and then handing a smaller pan to Emily.

"Okay, now flip it, just like that." He instructed, flipping a pancake effortlessly and then helping Emily and cheering when she did it right. "Nice!" He said, looking at her with respect, wearing a completely serious expression to convince her. "You should start your own restaurant and call it _Emily's._ "

"I'll call it _Blaine and Emily's._ " Emily said with a wide smile, as they put the pancakes on plates and carried them to the table.

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked from where he was sitting at the table, gesturing at the pitcher, looking at them pointedly. "I did squeeze the orange juice."

"Fine." Emily conceded. " _Blaine and Kurt and Emily's._ "

"I like the sound of that." Blaine said with a smile, walking up to Kurt, leaning down to kiss him.

"Not in front of Em!" Kurt hissed, stopping him and glancing at his niece across the table, eating her pancakes.

Blaine huffed and turned to the girl. "Emily. I'm now going to kiss your uncle." He informed her, making her groan and cover her eyes. With a smile, he turned back to Kurt, kissing him softly, Kurt wrapping his arms around his shoulders and tilting his head up to give him better access.

"This is so embarrassing." Emily's whine interrupted their sweet moment, so they pulled apart with a laugh, teasing Emily that it's going to be like that from now on and that she should better get used to it. After breakfast, they walked Emily to school, the little girl squealing happily when Blaine asked her if she would mind if he tagged along. Well, it was clear that she wouldn't mind at all. When they reached the school, Emily made Blaine promise that he would be there to pick her up as well and, satisfied when he pinky promised, she headed to the building.

"You don't have to come with me later to get her, if you have something else to do." Kurt said, as they walked through the park, hand in hand. "I'll tell her something came up."

"Kurt Hummel, are you trying to get rid of me?" Blaine asked, with a mock offense, clutching his heart with his free hand. "Honestly, I love spending time with her, she's awesome." He added, his expression turning more serious. "If you don't mind, that is?" He asked, looking at Kurt questioningly.

"I don't." Kurt replied with a smile, kissing Blaine's cheek, brushing his lips against the stubble since Blaine didn't shave this morning. "I think I like you like that." He muttered against his skin, feeling Blaine smile.

"Somehow I think Tina wouldn't appreciate me showing up at work, looking like a cowboy."

"Screw Tina." Kurt said, stopped walking and pulled Blaine closer, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck.

"Mmm, no, thank you." Blaine muttered, his lips inches from Kurt's. "I'd rather screw someone else."

"That could be arranged." Kurt replied teasingly and closed the gap, kissing Blaine quickly becoming his favorite thing to do. They kissed for a while, but stopped when they realized that making out in the park probably wasn't the best idea. However, making out in the apartment was a completely different story, so, laughing, Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and led him back home. They had a lot of time before they had to be at the school and he had quite a few ideas how to make them busy.

* * *

 **We're halfway there! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews so far, I'm glad you like the fic!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Life went on and Kurt couldn't believe how much everything had changed, in a way he had never even considered, but ended up liking it quite a lot. First, there was Emily. Their relationship was growing stronger, it seemed like they had put most of their problems behind them, finding a common language and combining their lives, making it easier for them to understand each other. Emily wasn't coming to the restaurant with him anymore, but she wasn't mad about it anymore, she knew what could happen if Kurt kept taking her with him and neither of them wanted to give principal Jones any reason to doubt Kurt's parenting skills. Mary, the babysitter Adam recommended, turned out to be a saint, an older woman who was fantastic with kids, quickly getting into Emily's favors by bringing homemade chocolate cookies the first time she came to watch over her. She was a great person and Kurt was really happy that he had someone like that taking care of Emily.

And then, there was Blaine.

As much as Kurt was afraid that their relationship would make working together more difficult, his fears turned out to be groundless. Blaine, usually eager for touches, being a personification of a teddy bear, remained strictly professional at the restaurant during their working hours, for which Kurt was grateful. He didn't know how, but Blaine seemed to have him all figured out, understanding that Kurt in kitchen mode was not to be confused with Kurt from outside the restaurant, a tiny thing that most people tend to miss, assuming Kurt was as cold and ruthless in every aspect of his life as he was when he was the chef. But Blaine wasn't most people.

They made a habit of going back to Kurt's apartment together after work. At first, Kurt tried to justify it by saying that he lived closer to the restaurant, only a couple blocks away while Blaine had to commute through half of the city, so he was just being thoughtful by offering him to stay the night. But when Blaine gave him this dubious, amused look that told Kurt he saw right through his excuses, he admitted with a smile that he had quickly grown used to sharing his bed with Blaine, finding it harder to fall asleep when he was alone, without Blaine's body heat and the quiet puffs of breath next to him. And, of course, sex was amazing. After years of only occasional hook-ups, Kurt seemed to go through some kind of awakening, making him want to ravish Blaine every chance he got. Not surprisingly, Blaine was a big fan of the said development.

The first night they left the restaurant together, they attracted a few surprised glances from the staff and a few smiles, when Blaine walked up to Kurt, kissing him on the cheek while Kurt was tying his scarf. No one said anything, only Tina looked at them with a weird expression on her face when they were leaving, hand in hand, but Kurt really couldn't care less about her reaction, she might be his boss, but his personal life was none of her business.

That night, right before they went to bed, too exhausted for anything sexual, since the kitchen had been a mess that day, Kurt's phone suddenly started buzzing on the nightstand. Looking at the caller's ID, he saw it was Quinn, so he grabbed the phone and went to the living room, gesturing at the phone to Blaine who nodded in understanding.

"Hummel!" Quinn's voice sounded through the phone after he barely hit the answer button. "Care to tell me why I have to find out from Rachel about you and Blaine?"

"Hello to you too." Kurt replied sarcastically, but actually happy that she called. He missed her, she was the only one that appreciated his snarky wit, taking it all in stride and was able to retort without missing a beat. "And well, I see the news travel fast."

"She texted me as soon as she left the restaurant. So…" Quinn drawled. "How did that happen?"

"It… just did." Kurt replied, shrugging helplessly with a grin, even though she couldn't see him.

"I knew he was perfect for you the second I met him." She said, making Kurt shake his head unbelievingly.

"What?"

"I knew you two would hit it off." Quinn repeated. "If you just gave him a chance."

"I'm glad I did." Kurt admitted quietly.

"Me too. Oh, and Kurt. If you ever want to go out on Sunday, when _Le Palais_ is closed, and then have a… free night, you're more than welcome to leave Emily with us for the night." She offered and Kurt could hear a grin in her tone.

"That's sweet of you, but I couldn't ask you to do that. How's Beth, by the way?" Kurt asked, thinking about all the photos of the baby Quinn had sent him.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. And Beth is great, you have to come by to visit."

"I will. And who knows, maybe I'll take you up on your offer. Although, we don't have a problem with our night activities, thank you very much." Kurt said with a smug grin, eliciting a loud laugh from Quinn.

"Kurt Hummel, you horndog! I've never thought I'd see that side of you. Wait…" She paused. "He's there, isn't he?" She asked knowingly.

Kurt shook his head with a silent laugh. "Not here next to me, but in the next room, yes."

"Okay, I'm not keeping you any longer. Get back to him and I'll talk to you soon to pester you for more details." Quinn ordered teasingly.

"Goodnight, Q." Kurt replied, grinning at her antics and ending the call. Walking back to the bedroom, he turned off the lights when he saw Blaine was already asleep, and crawled into bed, a pleasant feeling washing over him when Blaine's arms wrapped around him instantly, pulling him closer. _Yes,_ Kurt thought with a smile, closing his eyes, _giving him a chance was the best choice I've ever made._

* * *

"So, I know you say that Emily's doing better." Blaine said one day when they were cuddling on the couch in Kurt's apartment while Emily was in school. "But how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, I guess." Kurt replied thoughtfully. "Although thinking about him still hurts. I miss him." He admitted quietly, looking at a point on the wall.

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Blaine offered, hugging him closer. "We can talk about how, soon enough, Emily Hummel is going to be one of the best young cooks in the city."

"Hudson." Kurt corrected absentmindedly. "Finn and I were actually stepbrothers." He explained when Blaine looked at him questioningly. "But we forwent the step part a long time ago." He said, smiling sadly.

Blaine hummed in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything else, not wanting to push Kurt. After a few minutes of silence, Kurt spoke again. "My dad married his mom, Carole, when we were in high school. My mom died when I was eight." He started, reliving the memories; it had been a while since he told that story to anyone. Even his therapist only knew bits of it and, for a second, he wondered why it was so easy to tell Blaine those things.

"I'm sorry." Blaine said quietly, kissing Kurt's hair and waiting for him to continue.

"Cancer." Kurt spat the word like it was poison. "Anyway, Finn and I… we didn't get along at first. He was a quarterback on the football team, one of the jocks and I…" Kurt paused, thinking about how to phrase what he wanted to say. "And I wasn't the most popular person in school. Getting tossed in dumpsters, shoved against lockers – I got it all." Kurt felt Blaine's body tense next to him, so he paused and rubbed his thigh to calm him down, and then continued.

"I had a crush on him." He admitted with a shake of his head and an embarrassed laugh, making Blaine choke on his own spit. "He found out and was pretty freaked out about it, we had a fight, it was pretty ugly." Kurt said, his voice a little absent as the memories came back to him.

"But, eventually, we figured it out. It took a while, but… but we became very close, he'd had my back ever since. He was the best brother I could ever have." He whispered the last part, his voice breaking slightly, his eyes welling up.

"Oh, baby." Blaine murmured into Kurt's hair, holding him close as he curled up in his arms, his body shaking with silent sobs.

"Finn and Emily were the only family I had left." Kurt said, sniffling, calming his breath a little. "With them living in Ohio and me being here, we didn't see each other often, but we made up for it by talking on the phone and Skyping. I miss it so much."

"Emily is so much like him." He admitted after a while, smiling through the tears. "She reminds me of him all the time. It hurts sometimes, but, mostly, it's comforting. It's like having a little part of him here with us."

"That's good." Blaine said with a soft smile. "I'm sure he's proud of you, wherever he is."

"I'm not sure about that." Kurt chuckled wetly. "Look at me, I'm a mess."

"No, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met." Blaine replied, his eyes shining with sincerity and Kurt leaned against him, enjoying the closeness, falling silent for a few minutes.

"You never talk about your family." He said suddenly, glancing up when he felt Blaine's body tense a little.

"There's not much to say." Blaine shrugged. "I'm close only with my brother, Cooper, but he lives in Los Angeles, so we mostly talk on the phone."

Not wanting to push, Kurt stayed silent, saying nothing, but Blaine continued anyway. "Like I told you before, my father and I have never seen eye to eye. Me being gay, going into cooking… He's never supported any of that, probably never will."

"What about your mother?" Kurt asked hesitantly, noticing how Blaine didn't mention her at all.

"She loves my father." Blaine replied simply and that's all Kurt needed to understand. He rubbed Blaine's arm comfortingly with a sad expression on his face, wishing their lives would be a little bit less complicated. He was about to say something cheerful, to brighten the mood, but, suddenly, he was struck with a thought.

"Wait, you said your brother's name is Cooper and he lives in LA?" He asked, sitting up and looking Blaine in the eye. "Cooper Anderson? The guy from the Free Credit Rating Today commercial?!"

"God, not you too…" Blaine groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I loved those commercials! I totally had a crush on him." Kurt squealed, but when Blaine kept groaning, he scooted closer to him and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry, baby, I prefer you."

"Hallelujah." Blaine replied sarcastically, but leaned closer to Kurt, his mood getting better with each kiss he got from him.

"Although, it is unbelievable how one family produced two so gorgeous men…" Kurt started, his voice teasing, making Blaine flop back on the couch, swearing that he would kill Cooper the moment he saw him next. Thankfully, Kurt knew just how to distract him and, not much time later, Cooper was absolutely the last thing on Blaine's mind.

* * *

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Blaine said a few days later when they walked through the park after dropping off Emily at school.

"Go ahead." Kurt replied, without looking at him, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the sun shining on him, breathing deeply and feeling spring in the air, even though it was still quite freezing.

"What happened to Emily's mother?" Blaine asked curiously, making Kurt open his eyes and focus on him.

"Alice." Kurt said after a few seconds. "Finn and her dated in college. She wasn't a bad girl, but…" Kurt started, but stopped trying to find the right words to express what he wanted to say. "She was a free spirit with a specific view of the world. And she definitely wasn't ready to be a mother."

"When she found out she was pregnant, she wanted an abortion. She wasn't even going to tell Finn about it, she scheduled the appointment…" Kurt said and shuddered at the thought what might have happened. "Thankfully, Alice confided in her best friend and the other girl knew it wasn't fair to Finn, so she told him immediately. I remember that night when he called me, slightly panicked, but he knew what he wanted to do." Kurt said, shaking his head fondly, remembering his brother's voice that day, how determined he sounded.

"He said something like… _Bro, I know this is huge. But… but it seems right, you know?_ " Kurt said, laughing a little as he did his best to imitate Finn's voice. "It was crazy, but I told him he had my full support. He somehow managed to convince Alice to carry the pregnancy to term and she agreed, on the condition that she would have nothing to do with the baby once it was born."

"I was there when she went into labor, I had moved in with Finn two weeks before that to help him set everything up." Kurt said, the memories coming back to him. "Alice signed all the necessary documents and when she delivered Emily, she didn't even look at her. She didn't want to hold her own daughter, Blaine, not even for a second." He shook his head sadly, remembering how Alice turned her head away, asking to be taken away from the room as soon as possible.

"She wasn't ready." Blaine repeated Kurt's earlier words, squeezing his hand encouragingly.

"I know, but still… She carried her for nine months, you'd think she would at least want to say goodbye." Kurt said thoughtfully, not understanding, but trying not to judge, falling silent for a moment, getting lost in the memories, holding Blaine's hand tightly to ground himself.

"I remember Finn's face when the nurse gave him Emily to hold her for the first time." Kurt said softly after a while, thinking back about that night. "He had this look… the look of utter love on his face, holding Emily so carefully, like he was afraid he would drop her in any moment. Have I ever showed you a picture of him?" He asked and Blaine shook his head. "Finn was a huge guy, a big log." He said, grinning at his own words. "Emily looked so tiny in comparison to him, like he could break her with a snap of his fingers, but when I saw him looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world… I knew, Blaine. I knew that he made the right choice." Kurt said, clearing his throat and rubbing his eyes, feeling the tears prickling.

"I'm sure he was an amazing dad." Blaine said softly, brushing the tears that started streaming down Kurt's cheeks. "I'm sorry I brought this up, I didn't want to upset you."

"It's okay." Kurt replied, blushing a little with embarrassment about falling apart so easily. "Those are the good memories."

After they got to Kurt's apartment, he grabbed the photo album, the one Emily was often going through and sat down on the couch with Blaine, showing him the photos. There were tons of them, Finn, Finn with Emily, Finn with Kurt, they even found some photos from their high school years, which made Blaine coo at how adorable Kurt was back then.

"You mean I'm not adorable anymore?" Kurt asked in mock offense, glaring playfully at Blaine.

"Oh, no, you definitely are." Blaine assured with a smile on his face. "You know what I mean, you looked so innocent back then."

"And now?" Kurt inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, as I replay the images of last night in my head, I'm sure I can safely say that you are anything but innocent." Blaine said with a smirk, squeezing Kurt's thigh teasingly.

"Well then." Kurt replied, putting the photo album on the coffee table and throwing his leg over Blaine, climbing on his lap and straddling him. "Let's test your theory further, just to make sure you're right." He whispered against Blaine's mouth, wrapping his arms around his neck as he felt Blaine's arms circling his waist. Blaine leaned forward about to kiss him, but Kurt ducked his head in the last second, kissing the corner of his mouth instead, starting to pepper his face with little pecks, his cheeks, nose, but staying away from his lips.

"Tease." Blaine mumbled, sliding his hands down Kurt's back. He squeezed his ass playfully, making Kurt gasp softly against his skin, and then, using all of his strength, he stood up, hoisting Kurt up along with him, making him yelp in surprise.

"How can you be so strong while being so tiny, I'll never know." Kurt muttered, wrapping his legs around Blaine and burying his hands in his curls, kissing him deeply, as Blaine, slowly but surely, started walking towards the bedroom, one arm under Kurt's ass, the other one wrapped around his waist to steady him. In Kurt's room, Blaine moved closer to the bed and tossed Kurt on it with a smirk, then pulling his shirt over his head with one swift move while Kurt quickly got rid of his own.

"I'm not tiny." Blaine replied, crawling on the bed, lying Kurt down and hovering above him, reattaching their lips in a passionate kiss. Wrapping his arms around his neck and his leg around Blaine's hip, Kurt rolled them around, pinning a surprised Blaine to the mattress with a smirk.

"No, of course you're not." He muttered, swiftly sliding down, mouthing at Blaine's hardening cock through his jeans. "Not tiny at all."

After teasing him for a little while, making sure Blaine would be going crazy, he slowly started moving back up, leaving a trail of kisses on his belly, then on his chest, until he reached his nipple. He swirled his tongue around it, eliciting a loud moan from Blaine and then started sucking lightly, enjoying how Blaine was basically melting underneath him, fighting to stay still. Satisfied with his work, Kurt moved on to the other nipple, giving him an equal amount of attention. After he was done, trailed his lips up, mouthing at Blaine's neck and jaw until he reached his ear.

"Let me show you how innocent I am." He whispered, sucking on Blaine's earlobe, his low voice sending shivers down Blaine's spine. Sitting up, Kurt smirked mischievously and undid Blaine's pants, pulling them down along with his underwear, stopping for a second to admire his cock, hard and thick, the pre-cum leaking from the tip, waiting for Kurt to take care of it. After quickly getting rid of his own clothes, Kurt reached the drawer to grab the condoms and lube, and crawled back over to Blaine who was stroking himself lazily, his eyes closed and mouth partly open, the sight truly sinful.

"Turn on your stomach." Kurt said, swatting his hand away, his voice rough and laced with arousal, and when Blaine opened his eyes, his pupils wide blown, Kurt knew he was just as far gone as he was. Obliging, Blaine turned around, Kurt lying on his side next to him, running his fingers down Blaine's spine, observing the goosebumps on his skin. When he reached his ass, spreading the cheeks to tease his hole, Blaine let out a broken moan, rolling his hips down and rutting against the mattress. Figuring he made him wait long enough, Kurt poured the lube on his fingers and started circling his hole. Feeling Blaine's body tense, he leaned down to kiss his shoulder blades and slowly pushed one finger in, and paused, giving him time. A few seconds later, he started moving his finger back and forth, pushing past the tight ring of muscle, stretching Blaine slowly. Soon enough, Blaine let out an impatient groan, so Kurt swiftly added a second finger, eliciting a low moan from his lover that went straight to Kurt's cock and he couldn't help but thrust a couple of times against Blaine's hip, seeking some friction. He started moving his fingers faster, scissoring and pushing them deep until he brushed against Blaine's prostate, making Blaine whimper in pleasure and move his hips, trying to fuck himself on Kurt's fingers. Not able to restrain himself for much longer, Kurt kissed his shoulder again and pulled his fingers out, eliciting a whine of protest from Blaine. Rubbing his back soothingly, Kurt quickly rolled the condom on and coated himself in lube, moaning as he stroked himself a few times. Kneeling behind Blaine, he gripped his hips and pulled him up, until he was on all fours, and lined his cock with his entrance, teasing it with the tip.

"Ready?" Kurt asked, wanting to make sure Blaine was okay.

"Fuck, yes."

That was all the response Kurt needed. Gripping Blaine's hips tightly, he started to push in, groaning at the tightness around his cock, going slowly until he bottomed out. Giving Blaine time to adjust to the stretch, he waited, leaning forward and kissing the skin he could reach.

"You can move." Blaine rasped out a moment later. With one last kiss on his back, Kurt straightened up and began grinding against Blaine ass, then starting to thrust, shallowly at first, but picking up the speed with each move. Blaine moaned with each thrust, bracing himself with one hand against the headboard as Kurt fucked him harder, moving his hips to meet Kurt's thrusts, making him bury himself in Blaine even deeper. Kurt watched with fascination as his cock slid in and out from Blaine's hole and changed the angle slightly, making Blaine scream out in ecstasy when he hit his prostate. Shifting a little, he started thrusting harder, hitting the spot with each snap of his hips, tightening his grip on Blaine's body, pretty sure he was leaving bruises, but too far gone to care. Blaine's whole body was covered in sweat, his arms shaking and his head hanging down, moaning loudly with every move. Kurt slid his hand down to Blaine's cock and started stroking it in the rhythm of his thrusts.

"Come on, B." He rasped out and it took only a couple of strokes and thrusts more for Blaine to come with a loud scream, all over his chest and Kurt's hand, clenching wonderfully around Kurt's cock. Fucking him through the orgasm, Kurt let go of his cock, resuming his tight grip on his hips as Blaine collapsed on the mattress, his arms and legs finally giving out. So close to climax, Kurt followed him down, lowering himself and propping himself on his arms, and kept thrusting, hard and fast, his movements getting sloppy and desperate as he chased his release, letting out high-pitched whines with every snap of his hips. Blaine lied still, only moaning softly, spreading his legs wider and letting Kurt do whatever he wanted with him and, after a couple more thrusts, Kurt came with a particularly sharp snap of his hips, burying himself deep into Blaine, his cock throbbing, filling up the condom. Kurt moaned loudly and kept grinding against Blaine, trying to make it last longer, but eventually stilled, collapsing on top of Blaine. They lied like that for a few minutes, trying to catch their breaths, until they started shifting because of oversensitivity and Kurt raised himself and pulled out, eliciting a hiss from Blaine. Throwing away the condom, he lied back on the bed, totally spent, his body boneless and pliant.

"So." Kurt started, lying on his side next to Blaine, who was still on his stomach, head buried in the pillow. "What's the verdict?" He asked, pulling the blanket on top of them and wrapping his arm around Blaine's back, smirking smugly when Blaine turned his head to look at him.

"I stand by my theory. You're not innocent at all." Blaine replied, his voice low and raspy and if Kurt wasn't so spent, he would probably ravish him again. Glancing at the clock, he figured they had enough time for a short nap before Emily was done with school, so he pecked Blaine's lips and snuggled closer and entwined their legs together to keep it that way. As he closed his eyes, he could hear Blaine's breath already evening out, so he listened to it, the steady sounds slowly lulling him to sleep.

* * *

 **One little thing: next Friday I'm going skiing for a week and I won't have wifi there, so there'll be no update next week :( I get back on Saturday in two weeks, so chapter 9 will be up either on Saturday evening (March 12th) or on Sunday (March 13th)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm back! Again, sorry for the long wait :)**

 **There are some sentences in Italian in this chapter, you can find the translations in the notes under the chapter. And for those translations, I'd like to thank Sofia (babyblainers on tumblr), you're amazing!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

"Hey, Coop." Blaine said into his phone, as he plopped down on the couch, in his apartment for a change. He really should spend more time here, it didn't even feel like he lived in it, with all the time he hanged around at Kurt's place.

"Hey, little brother, what's up?" His brother's voice came through the phone. "That's an unusual time for you to call, everything all right?"

"Yeah, yeah." Blaine assured him. "I just… I guess I just wanted to tell you that I'm really glad you're my brother."

Silence followed after that, only Cooper's occasional breaths audible. "B?" He asked, the concern lacing his voice. "Not that I don't appreciate it, I really do, but what brought this on?"

So Blaine told him about Kurt. He told him about Finn's death, about Emily and how much different it was with Kurt than with other guys. He told him everything and was pretty sure that he was simply gushing at the end, but, surprisingly, Cooper listened intently, not interrupting him even once.

"We were talking about families a few days ago. And it just made me realize that I don't say it enough, but I love you, Coop." Blaine admitted.

"And I love you too, Squirt." Cooper said fondly, Blaine rolling his eyes at the nickname. "Aww, look at us, we're having a sappy moment! Wait, let me take some notes, I might use it in one of my auditions…"

"You ruined it!" Blaine exclaimed, hearing the rustling of paper in the background, but not able to stop the laugh from his mouth.

"I did not." Cooper replied, laughing as well. "But I'm really glad you called, B. And it looks like I have to come and visit soon, to meet that Kurt of yours." He added teasingly.

"Sure, just warn me first, so I can prepare him. He's quite a fan of your Free Credit Rating Today commercial…" Blaine said, making Cooper gasp in delight.

"Oh! I'll bring signed posters and photos!" He shouted excitedly. "I love my fans."

"Coop, you don't have any fans."

"Apparently I do, one better than none! Okay, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you soon." Cooper said and Blaine rolled his eyes again.

"Bye, Coop." He hung up with a shake of his head, smiling at his idiot brother. But, somehow, he wouldn't want him any other way.

* * *

It was one of those rare days when Blaine actually had something to take care of early in the morning, so he didn't come to Kurt's apartment after work the night before, saying there was no point in waking Kurt or Emily up so early, since it was Saturday and they could sleep in. It felt a little weird, coming home without Blaine, but Kurt wasn't that upset about it. Working six days a week, side by side, and then spending most nights together, one day apart would do them good. Things were great between them, but Kurt wouldn't be himself if he didn't worry from time to time, and their relationship was still relatively fresh so it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. He would see him later today at the restaurant, it was all good.

Suddenly, Kurt's phone buzzed on the kitchen counter while he was peeking into the fridge, thinking about what to make for lunch. Unlocking the screen, he saw he had a new text.

 **Blaine: Done with the errands! I'll see you later, miss you 3**

Kurt's heart did a little flip at the heart at the end of the message, and, god dammit, he missed Blaine too, and he found himself wishing the time he had to go to work would hurry up and come already. _Kurt Hummel missing a man after barely twelve hours apart, what did he do to me,_ Kurt thought, shaking his head with a smile, knowing he was being silly, but not able to stop the pleasant feeling inside of him every time he thought about Blaine. Who knew that the man he had despised at the very beginning would have that effect on him? Although, if Kurt was being completely honest with himself, Blaine managed to convince Kurt to himself in a record time, not that he would ever tell him that. No, he didn't need to know how quickly he really managed to get under Kurt's skin.

His internal conversation with himself got interrupted by Emily walking into the kitchen, carrying Sammy with her, with a sour expression on her face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kurt asked, instantly knowing that something was up.

"I found a hole in Sammy." She said miserably, showing the teddy bear to Kurt, lifting its arm to show him the hole on the side of the toy.

Taking it from her, Kurt looked at it closer, studying it carefully. "It's not that big, I can sew it up for you, if you want." He said, mentally checking if he had the supplies he needed for that.

"You can do it?" Emily asked, looking at him incredulously, but Kurt could also see the hope lightening up in her eyes.

"Of course." He replied with a smile. "I used to make some of my clothes when I was in high school, I still remember how to sew." He couldn't help but chuckle when Emily looked at him in awe.

Kurt laid the bear on the kitchen table and looked at Emily with serious expression. "So, will you help me? Every doctor needs an assistant and it looks like our lovely Sammy needs a surgery." Emily bit her lip and nodded excitedly, following him when he went to his bedroom to retrieve his sewing box from his closet. Back in the kitchen, they started going through the thread spools, trying to find the one that would match Sammy's color perfectly. After picking one and getting Emily's approval for it, Kurt set it up on the table, along with the needle and the scissors, pulling Sammy closer.

"Okay, Sammy, we're going to anaesthetize you now, so you won't feel any pain." He said gently, hovering above the bear, putting an empty glass to its mouth, pretending to drug him. After a minute, he put the glass aside and turned Sammy, so he would be lying on his healthy side.

"You ready?" Kurt asked Emily, who nodded decisively. "Nurse Emily, needle and thread, please." He ordered, his niece immediately handing him the requested items. Threading the needle, he gave the spool back to her and started sewing, carefully, making sure the stitch was straight and even. It didn't take long, the hole wasn't that big, so when he reached the end, he expertly finished the stitch.

"Scissors." Cutting the thread right by the bear's body, he set the scissors aside and smoothed Sammy's side with his hand. "See? Looks like new." Kurt said with a smile, handing Sammy carefully to Emily. "Just make sure he gets some rest, those kinds of surgeries are always exhausting for the patient."

"You fixed him, thank you!" Emily squealed happily, hugging Sammy tightly. "I've had him since I can remember, dad always said that he was the smartest bear and would always be with me." She said, her eyes turning a little sadder for a moment. "I don't think dad knew how to sew." She added thoughtfully after a minute, stroking Sammy's ear absentmindedly.

"Oh, I can guarantee you that he didn't." Kurt chuckled, shaking his head fondly, remembering how clumsy and awkward his brother could be.

"He probably wouldn't be able to hold a needle in his big hands." Emily said, smiling faintly, looking up at Kurt and it hit him that it was the first time they had a conversation about Finn that didn't involve crying or screaming. Walking closer to him, Emily hugged him tightly, saying a quiet 'thank you' again, and smiling, she went back to her room, leaving Kurt in the kitchen, smiling as well, happy that he did something that made the little girl happy.

After lunch, Kurt started getting ready to go to work, greeting Mary when she came over at the usual time to stay with Emily. He still had at least twenty minutes before he had to leave, so he sat on the couch, going through the calendar on his phone, checking if he had anything important written down for the following week, and he froze when he saw what date fell on the next Sunday. He double checked, and damn, he had a problem. A huge problem. Texting Blaine to meet him earlier in the restaurant, he grabbed his coat and, after saying goodbye to Mary and Emily, he rushed out of the apartment.

When he got to _Le Palais_ , Blaine was already there, waiting for him in the kitchen's back room, standing up from where he was sitting on the couch and looking at Kurt with a worried expression when he ran through the door, breathing heavily, his coat open and the scarf barely hanging from his neck.

"Kurt, what's wrong?" He asked, walking up to him, the concern evident in his voice.

"No, no, it's nothing bad." Kurt panted out, waving with his hands to reassure Blaine. "Well, nothing life-threating." He added, reconsidering, after he managed to catch his breath.

With Blaine still looking at him questioningly, Kurt closed his eyes and counted to ten, trying to calm his wildly beating heart, and proceeded to explain what caused him to panic so much. "I just realized that Emily's birthday is next Sunday. I completely forgot and, Blaine, what do I do?" He asked, his eyes wide and feeling helpless.

"Hey, there's still time! It's over a week." Blaine said with a smile, rubbing Kurt's arms, much more relaxed now, when he knew nothing bad had happened.

"You don't understand." Kurt shook his head fervently. "I have no idea what to get her, how to celebrate it with her, I've never done something like that before…"

"Hey, hey." Blaine said, interrupting Kurt before he could drive himself back into panic mode. "Breathe. I'll help you and we'll figure something out." He smiled encouragingly and Kurt could feel his nerves melt away, at least partially.

Seeing Kurt calm down, Blaine smiled widely. "Okay. First thing, the cake. I'm assuming you know how to bake a cake?" He asked teasingly, making Kurt stare at him, arching his eyebrow with his patented _bitch, please_ look.

"Fair enough." Blaine grinned. "If I help you, it'll go faster." He offered and when Kurt nodded, already narrowing his eyes with a calculating expression on his face, the gears turning in his head.

"We could bake it here, so Emily wouldn't know." Kurt said. "On Saturday, after work, if you're fine with staying late."

It was Blaine's turn to look at him incredulously. "I don't mind at all." He said firmly, to once and for all assure Kurt that he offered to help because he _wanted_ to, not because he felt like he had to. "What kind of cake were you thinking about?"

"Huh." Kurt started thinking intensively, trying to recall if Emily expressed any preference when it came to the cake flavors. "How about a chocolate one? She loves chocolate." He said, suddenly remembering how much she loved anything that had chocolate in it.

"Perfect." Blaine grinned. "Now we have to figure out how to spend the day. Unless…" He stopped abruptly, biting his lip and looking down. "I completely understand if you want it to be just you and her, I mean birthdays are the family occasions… Mmph!"

Rolling his eyes, Kurt leaned over and cut Blaine off by pressing their lips together, shutting him up successfully. Pulling away, he looked into Blaine's eyes, preening internally at how glazed they were. "Don't be an idiot." He scolded him tenderly, squeezing his hand. "You're more than welcome to spend the day with us, you're Emily's favorite person in the world." He said with a smile.

"That's not true." Blaine tried to deny, his eyes regaining the playful spark from before.

"It is. I'm pretty sure she would trade me for you at any time." Kurt said, rolling his eyes fondly.

"She wouldn't." Blaine assured him with a smile, not able to help the warm feeling spreading through his chest. He might not show it, but it meant a lot to him, he cared more about that girl than he would admit out loud. Not yet, anyway.

"Oh, yeah?" Kurt asked, with a quirked eyebrow. "You should have heard her, _Blaine this, Blaine that, oh, Kurt, you know what Blaine did?_ " Kurt pitched his voice slightly, doing a great impression of Emily, really, it wasn't that hard with the frequency he had a chance to listen to her ramblings about Blaine.

Blaine let out a loud laugh. "I can't help it, I always got along with kids, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Kurt replied softly. "You made her open up way faster than I would ever be able to."

They looked at each other in silence, until their moment was cruelly interrupted by the noises coming from the kitchen, meaning the rest of the staff started coming in.

"Chef? Blaine?" They heard Rachel's voice calling them from outside. "Are you there? Ms. Cohen-Chang wants to talk to you about something!"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "What does she want again?" He muttered, eliciting a dark chuckle from Kurt.

"Our souls, probably." He replied, making Blaine snort before calling out to the kitchen. "We'll be there in a minute!"

They were already changed, getting dressed in their chef's uniforms while they discussed the cake, so Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and tugged him in the direction of the door. "Come on. Or she'll come in there, and this room is way too small for Tina Cohen-Chang's ego." He said with a smirk, Blaine laughing again.

"One more thing." Blaine stopped, pulling Kurt back to him and kissing his softly. "Now. Now we can go." He said smugly and with one last squeeze, they let go of each other's hand, walking out to the kitchen and looking for Tina.

As Kurt suspected, all she really wanted was to pester them with some insignificant details about the menu, most of her remarks unsurprisingly directed at Kurt. He wondered sometimes why she wouldn't just fire him if she had so many problems with him, really, the only time he had seen her being pleasant with him was after Finn's accident when she told him to take a couple of days off. But then he remembered with satisfaction that he was the key to her success and she couldn't get rid of him without worsening her restaurant's reputation. _Well, now she actually could, Blaine would be more than capable to keep the kitchen work flawlessly on his own_ , Kurt thought and smiled, shaking his head fondly. When he had met Blaine for the first time, he would never say that, but now, there was no point in denying how great and talented Blaine was.

Not interrupting Tina's tirade, he exchanged a meaningful glance with Blaine, the other man smirking slightly, telling Kurt that he was as amused and bored by Tina's speech as he was. After she was done, they sat by the table, going through the usual briefing, Blaine and Kurt holding their hands loosely under the table, not attracting the surprised glances anymore, everyone already got used to them being a thing. Only Tina kept shooting them weird looks from time to time, just like she had been from the first day they revealed their relationship, but both Kurt and Blaine not caring about her in the slightest.

When the restaurant's opening hour came and their work began, they didn't have the time to discuss any other plans for Emily's birthday. It was Saturday, usually the busiest day at _Le Palais_ , so the kitchen had been working at top speed since the very first minute.

"I may have an idea what to do next Sunday." Blaine only got a chance to say when they both were in the cooler room, grabbing the things they needed in the moment, not having the opportunity to talk more about it, both running out to the kitchen when new orders came from the dining hall.

After they finished working, they were both too exhausted to discuss anything unrelated to sleeping and closing their eyes, so Kurt decided to ask Blaine about his idea tomorrow.

"You're going home with me, right?" He asked, his voice laced with exhaustion, as they left the restaurant and were waiting for the cab in front of the restaurant.

"Why, you missed me last night?" Blaine replied teasingly with a tired, sleepy smile.

"You have no idea." Kurt said, wrapping his arms around Blaine and burrowing his face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the familiar, comforting scent. "Besides, Emily wants to show you something, don't ask me what, she wouldn't say." He added and pulled away when their cab arrived.

"Well, in that case I don't think I have any choice." Blaine shrugged with a mock resignation, his eyes glinting playfully and opened the car door for Kurt.

"Oh yeah, we certainly appreciate the sacrifices you make for us." Kurt retorted with a smirk, getting into the cab, Blaine following, his head shaking with a silent laughter.

"So, what do you have in mind for Sunday?" Kurt asked when they were sitting in the backseat, figuring they could talk now, to distract themselves from falling asleep in a cab.

"I was thinking, Emily likes animals, right?" When Kurt nodded, he continued. "How about we take her to the Central Park Zoo? It's supposed to be warmer next weekend, they have a lot of cool animals and attractions for the kids."

"You're a genius." Kurt muttered, leaning closer and kissing Blaine's cheek. "That sounds amazing, I'm sure she'll love it."

The week passed quickly, both Blaine and Kurt acting completely normal around Emily, not showing any signs of acknowledging what day fell on Sunday. As far as they could tell, she wasn't suspecting anything, behaving just like she always did. Kurt expected that maybe she would start dropping subtle hints about the weekend or try to worm some details out of him, but nothing like that happened. The idea popped up in his head, that maybe she didn't think they had anything special planned, and it made Kurt sad and determined to prove her how wrong she was.

On Saturday, he went to work like always, arranging with Mary to stay a little longer and she agreed happily when he told her why he had to stay longer at the restaurant. Blaine took care of the groceries, bringing them to the restaurant with him and putting them away in one of the fridges in the kitchen. They were sharing meaningful glances during the entire time they worked, impatient to finish and get started on the cake. Finally, when the restaurant closed and the last person left, leaving just Kurt and Blaine in the kitchen, they got to work. Kurt had an old recipe for a chocolate cake his mother used to make when he was younger and he was eager to try it out, he had never tried to make it before, the memories too painful after she died and, after he got older, he just didn't feel like baking a cake when he had no one to share it with. Happy that he finally had someone to make it for, he pulled the recipe out of his bag, and the baking began.

They split the work between them, Blaine taking care of making the dough and baking the base that they would later cut to three parts and then layer them with the chocolate filling that was Kurt's job to prepare. They worked quickly and efficiently, wanting to get back to Kurt's apartment as soon as possible, in case Emily woke up and inquired why they weren't home yet. The music was playing from Blaine's radio, Blaine singing along, making Kurt smile, just like he always did when he danced around the kitchen. He was just humming under his breath, Italian words effortlessly coming out of his mouth and Kurt couldn't help himself, he walked up to him, kissing him sweetly, keeping his hands away, as they were covered with the filling he was making. He felt Blaine's sharp intake of breath in surprise before he wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist, pulling him closer, his other hand still buried in the dough. The innocent kiss turned a little deeper than Kurt had planned and when they pulled apart, they were both flushed, their breaths ragged as they stood still, looking into each other's eyes.

"Not that I'm complaining." Blaine muttered hoarsely against Kurt's lips, still holding him firmly. "But what was that for?"

"I couldn't help myself, you talking or singing in Italian does things to me." Kurt said, his breath ghosting on Blaine's lips. Hearing that, Blaine turned them slightly, so he had Kurt crowded against the metal table, Kurt's hands till raised so he would avoid getting chocolate on Blaine's white uniform.

"Oh, really?" Blaine asked, his eyes darkening when he pressed his body against Kurt. " _Ti piace proprio tanto, non è vero? Quando ti parlo così._ " He whispered in Kurt's ear before trailing his lips down to his neck.

"Oh god, stop." Kurt groaned, biting his lip, feeling the heat boiling in his stomach. "Blaine Anderson, I will not have sex with you in the kitchen." He said, pushing Blaine away as much as he could without using his hands, giving himself a mental high-five for maintaining at least a little of self-control.

"Why?" Blaine whined, pulling away reluctantly with a pout on his face, and _no_ , Kurt wouldn't give in to his puppy eyes. Not again, not this time.

"Because, first, we have no time." Kurt replied, looking and him pointedly. "And second, I have to be able to work here without any distracting reminders." He added with a smirk.

Grumbling under his breath, Blaine turned back to the table, about to get back to work. "But…" Kurt said, walking up to him, and pressing himself against him from behind, rolling his hips slightly against his ass. "Keep that thought for later, when we get back home." He whispered, his voice low and deep, and then he walked away, back to preparing the filling, smirking smugly to himself, well aware of Blaine breathing in deeply a couple of times to calm himself.

After that, they kept working, exchanging glances from time to time, Kurt shivering at how lustful Blaine's eyes were. It didn't take long for Kurt to finish up and put the filling in the fridge to cool it down a little, just as Blaine was putting the dough in the oven and setting the timer for forty minutes. He went to the back room to grab his phone, and was in the middle of checking if there were any messages from Mary, when he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around just in time to see Blaine walking up to him, who, seconds later, crashed their lips together, instantly shoving his tongue into Kurt's mouth to deepen the kiss. Kurt groaned when Blaine started sucking on his bottom lip, gasping in shock when Blaine abruptly pulled away, pushing Kurt down on the couch and immediately crawling on top of him, the sudden demonstration of Blaine's strength and dominance making the arousal spike through his entire body.

"Is later now?" Blaine growled, looking at Kurt with dark eyes and Kurt, losing the remains of his strong will, only whined and wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, pulling him down to press their lips together. The kiss turned heated and passionate very soon, both of them too impatient of teasing each other for so long. Kurt spread his legs, so Blaine could settle on top of him more comfortably, and they began rutting against each other, kissing sloppily, desperate for some friction. Blaine slid his hand down to undo Kurt's pants, shoving it into his boxers and wrapping his hand around Kurt's cock, beginning to stroke him slowly, as he moved his lips to Kurt's ear.

"Yeah, you like that?" Blaine asked, his voice raspy, Kurt moaning softly as Blaine kept the movements of his hand agonizingly slow. "Come on _,_ _tesoro,_ let me hear you."

Kissing him again, Blaine started jerking him off faster, Kurt moving his hips, thrusting up into Blaine's fist, his moans getting louder when Blaine twisted his wrist, just like he knew Kurt liked. Sliding his hands down, Kurt unzipped Blaine's pants, tugging them off along with his underwear and wrapping his fingers around his cock, making Blaine gasp into his mouth. Shifting on top of him, Blaine hastily pulled down Kurt's pants as well and both men moaned brokenly when their cocks brushed. They started moving their hips fervently, rubbing against each other, Kurt moving his hands to cup Blaine's ass and Blaine wrapping his hand around both of their erections, stroking them rapidly. It was rough without any lube, but neither of them gave a damn.

"Blaine, Blaine, oh god…" Kurt groaned, throwing his head back, baring his neck to Blaine who started sucking on it immediately, his hand not stopping.

" _Sei splendido, meraviglioso._ " Blaine mumbled against Kurt's skin, biting on the purple mark that started to appear there, making Kurt let out a strangled scream and thrust up violently, moving his hips wildly, chasing his release. " _Vieni per me, amore mio, vieni per me._ "

"Blaine!" Kurt moaned brokenly, arching his back as he came, moving his hands up to clutch Blaine's shoulders tightly, the waves of pleasure hitting him as Blaine jerked him off through the orgasm. It only took a couple of strokes for Blaine to climax as well, whimpering and biting on Kurt's neck again, cum spurting from his cock, white streaks covering both of their uniforms.

They lied in silence for a while, the only sound in the room were their ragged breaths. Kurt stared blankly at the ceiling, while Blaine had his head burrowed in the crook of his neck, both shivering with the aftershocks, coming down from their highs.

"What part of 'when we get home' didn't you understand?" Kurt asked eventually, his voice hoarse.

"I didn't see you complaining." Blaine retorted with a smug smirk, tilting his head to look at Kurt, arching his eyebrow. "I don't think you've ever been that vocal, it really does something to you when I speak Italian." He stated with a grin. "It was only a preview, next time I'll be talking only in Italian while I'm fucking you." He whispered in Kurt's ear, squeezing his hips.

Kurt groaned, feeling his cock twitch up in interest, but there was no way he could go again right now. Besides, they were still _at the restaurant,_ for fuck's sake. "I can't believe we just did that."

"Mmm, I can, it was pretty spectacular." Blaine murmured, kissing Kurt gently, a complete opposite to how he was kissing him not even ten minutes ago. In that moment, the timer in the kitchen went off, signaling that the cake was done.

"Perfect timing." Chuckling, Blaine pecked Kurt's lips again and sat up, quickly pulling up his boxers and pants and, after glancing at his uniform stained with cum, he took it off and tossed it away. "You clean up, I'll take the cake out of the oven." He said, his eyes darkening when they swept over Kurt, still lying on the couch with his pants down, looking deliciously debauched, with his hair ruffled and flushed cheeks.

Blaine left the back room, wearing only his undershirt and, soon enough, Kurt heard a soft humming coming from the kitchen. Rolling his eyes fondly, he sat up, putting on his underwear and his pants, wincing when he looked at his uniform, covered with cum, just like Blaine's. He took it off and, after a moment of hesitation, he grabbed Blaine's t-shirt he was wearing when he came to the restaurant before changing into his working clothes. _I'm sure he won't mind, it was his fault, after all, that my uniform got stained,_ Kurt thought with a smirk and walked out of the room to the kitchen.

Blaine turned around when he heard his footsteps and let out some kind of a growl when he saw what Kurt was wearing. Seeing him in his own shirt, his hair a mess, eyes shining, made him want to drag him back to that room and have his way with him all over again.

"How do you expect me not to ravish you again when you're looking like this?" He whined as Kurt walked to the fridge to get the filling, swaying his hips on purpose and dropping the spoon on the floor, and bending slowly to pick it up, putting his ass on full display, feeling Blaine's eyes on him.

"Your own fault, honey." Kurt said sweetly, walking up to where Blaine just finished cutting the cake, having three perfect layers ready for the next step and bumping their hips. "Now, can we get it done and actually go home?"

Eyeing Kurt one last time, Blaine sighed and moved back to let Kurt work his magic with layering the cake. "Yes, chef."

Everything went smoothly after that. Kurt worked carefully, making sure the layers were even and, soon enough, the cake was ready, looking just like the one Kurt's mom used to make. He grinned proudly at Blaine who was leaning against the table, watching him work with a soft smile. After putting the cake in the box Kurt brought from home, they quickly changed, Kurt giving the shirt back to Blaine and putting on his own with a grin. He tossed their chef's uniforms in a bag, intending to throw them in the washing machine as soon as they got to his apartment.

"Now, every time I go to that back room, I'm going to remember what we did on that couch." Kurt grumbled as they walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand. "That's not funny!" He exclaimed when Blaine started laughing, trying to be serious, but not able to stop the giggles coming out from his own mouth.

"Think of it as our dirty little secret." Blaine said with a smile, kissing his cheek.

When they got to Kurt's apartment, Kurt, once again, profoundly thanked Mary for staying with Emily longer this time, but she assured him it was completely fine, only asking if everything went according to plan. When he nodded, thankful she didn't notice the slight blush on his cheeks, she smiled widely and headed out, wishing them good luck for the rest of the birthday surprise. Knowing they had a big day ahead of themselves, they went straight to bed, to sleep, much to Blaine's chagrin, even though Kurt was really tempted to take Blaine on the offer he had mentioned earlier in the restaurant. Thankfully, his reasoning came through to Blaine and with one soft kiss and a promise that they had all night tomorrow, they turned off the light, quickly falling asleep, with their arms wrapped around each other.

* * *

 ** _Ti piace proprio tanto, non è vero?_ _Quando ti parlo così?_** \- You really love this, don't you? Me talking to you like this?

 ** _Tesoro_** \- dear

 ** _Sei splendido, meraviglioso_** \- So beautiful, so gorgeous

 ** _Vieni per me, amore mio, vieni per me_** \- Come for me, my darling, come for me


	10. Chapter 10

**Another chapter! I'm feeling kind of melancholic right now, tomorrow it will be a year since Glee ended, it's unbelievable how the time flies. And guess what? I still miss Glee just as much as I missed it one day after it ended. It looks like it will always keep hold of my soul (and I'm not going to complain about that, oh no).**

 **But hey, in two days it'll be also a year since I met Darren and THIS IS AMAZING, I'll never be over it.**

 **Enjoy the chapter and I also apologize for any inaccuracies in the description of the zoo (I imagine there are plenty). I've never been there, I only had a map of the zoo and the descriptions from the website to work with :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

The alarm was set early, since they wanted to make sure they would be up before Emily. Groaning, they got up, neither of them being a morning person, so it took a little effort, but hey, they could make the sacrifice that one time. After getting dressed, Blaine went to the kitchen to get started on a special birthday breakfast, while Kurt slowly sneaked up on Emily, opening the door to her room quietly, careful not to wake her too soon.

"Emily." He said quietly, sitting down on her bed. "Emily!" Her eyes snapped open when he raised his voice and Kurt grinned widely. He grabbed Sammy from the bed and looked at him seriously. "You know, Sammy, something in my gut is telling me that today is a very special today." Tilting bear's head, as if he wanted to ask a question, Kurt nodded. "That's right, Sammy, I think it's someone's birthday today!"

"Yes!" Emily squealed happily, not able to stay quiet any longer, jumping giddily on the bed. "It's my birthday!"

"Did someone say it's their birthday?" Blaine asked with a wide smile, appearing in the doorway out of nowhere. "Well, it's a good thing then that we are prepared!" He said, winking in Kurt's direction.

"Brush your teeth and we'll see you in the kitchen." Kurt told Emily and he had never seen her jump out of bed that quickly, she was gone from the room before he even finished talking. Smiling at each other, Kurt and Blaine headed back to the kitchen and when Emily joined them, Blaine started putting the pancakes on their plates, and damn, Kurt apparently had some catching up to do in that area because his pancakes definitely weren't that spectacular.

The special birthday breakfast consisted of pancakes made in various animal shapes, some of them supplemented with pieces of fruit, the different patterns drawn on them with chocolate sauce. Emily's eyes widened in delight when she saw them, Blaine wiggling his eyebrows when Kurt's eyes met his, making Kurt shake his head with a laugh. Before they could eat, Emily insisted on taking pictures of the animal pancakes, so Kurt obliged and snapped a few photos with his phone, making a mental note to ask Blaine how the hell he knew how to make those kind of pancakes.

"We have to eat now, Em, we're kind of on a tight schedule today." Blaine casually said and that was exactly the right thing to do, Emily's eyes flashing with excitement as she dug into the pancakes, eating so quickly that both Kurt and Blaine had to tell her to slow down a little bit, they wouldn't be going anywhere if she choked on her birthday breakfast.

They decided not to tell her where they were going, wanting it be a complete surprise. Emily had tried, of course, to get the information out of them, jumping around and begging them to tell her, from the moment they finished breakfast, while they were getting dressed, and then when they were getting into the cab. Giving up, figuring she wouldn't achieve anything, she fell silent, sitting between them in the backseat of the cab, looking around as they drove through the city, fiddling with her fingers in excitement. When they reached their destination and got out of the car after paying the driver, she looked around, not recognizing the neighborhood, but her eyes widened when they got closer to the Central Park Zoo.

"That looks like the zoo from _Madagascar_!" Emily gasped.

Kurt chuckled. "That's because it _is_ the zoo from _Madagascar_." He said with a smile. They had chosen the north gate exactly for that reason. "Slightly different, of course, but that's the one."

After buying the tickets, they let Emily decide where they would go first. She chose the sea lion pool, so that's where they headed, taking a few steps downstairs to watch the animals swim happily below the water, spinning and doing flips, swimming close to the glass separating them from humans as if they wanted to say hi.

Next, they headed to the building with the tropic zone. There were all kinds of birds, snakes and bats in there that Emily stared at in pure fascination, but what caught her attention was the troop of black-and-white ruffed lemurs. They were adorable, running around and chasing each other, there were a couple of young ones, that even Kurt couldn't help but coo at them, even though he wasn't much of an animal person. They spent a lot time there, watching the lemurs playing and jumping around, it took a while before Emily, though reluctantly, decided to move forward.

They went back outside, heading to the temperate territory. The weather was indeed beautiful that they, much warmer than in the past few weeks, which made wandering around the zoo much more pleasant. They let Emily go forward, running excitedly from enclosure to enclosure, admiring the red pandas, snow leopards and other Asian animals, while they followed a little behind.

"I know I said this already, but thank you." Kurt said to Blaine, chuckling when Emily stood on her tiptoes, trying to spot the rest of a red panda in the tree when she noticed the big, fluffy tail hanging from it. "This was a perfect idea."

"You're very welcome." Blaine replied with a smile, squeezing Kurt's hand happily, his smile widening when Kurt pressed a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Kurt! Blaine!" Emily yelled, making them look up. "Come on, the grizzly bears are next!"

Laughing, they sped up and caught up with her, listening to her excited chattering about everything she had seen so far, Kurt grabbing her right hand while she stretched the left one to Blaine. They walked like that, and Kurt felt a pleasant feeling in his chest, noticing how… domestic it felt, and how nice it was, in a way he had never thought it could.

After watching the penguins and other sea birds, the only thing they had left was the Tisch Children's Zoo. It was the part of the zoo with the goats, sheep and pigs, there was even a cow, which the kids could pet through the fence. They could feed them as well which made Emily excited all over again, squealing when the goat licked her hand, demanding a snack. There were also plenty of animal statues that children could climb on, so Kurt and Blaine spent at least twenty minutes watching Emily play around, taking pictures of her and the animals, but they didn't mind. She looked like she was having the time of her life, which made Kurt sigh in relief, seeing her that happy lifted down a heavy feeling in his chest, the one that had been weighing him down ever since Finn died. As if he sensed the slight change in Kurt's mood, Blaine leaned closer, wrapping his arms around him, his presence next to Kurt making him feel like everything would be okay.

At Emily's insistence, they headed back to the lemurs and it was then that Kurt was struck with an idea. Asking Blaine if he could distract Emily for a few minutes, he went outside, walking back to where he saw a gift shop, hoping he would find what he was looking for. When he entered the shop, it didn't disappoint him – there were plenty of stuffed animals on the shelves, different sizes of every animal they had in the Central Park Zoo and it didn't take Kurt long to locate a lemur, just like the one Emily had been in love with since she saw them for the first time. After paying, he went back to Blaine and Emily, hiding the stuffed animal behind his back, so she wouldn't see it right away. Blaine's eyes widened in recognition as he caught a glimpse of the fluffy tail and, grinning widely, he gave Kurt a thumbs-up.

"So, what were your favorite animals today?" Kurt asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Lemurs!" Emily said excitedly, but looking longingly in the direction of the building where the lemurs where held. "They were so cute."

"What do you think about this one?" Kurt asked, pulling the animal from behind his back. "For me, it looks like it needs a new home."

"It's for me?!" Emily gasped.

"I don't know, do you think you can take good care of it?" Kurt asked teasingly, making Blaine chuckle lightly beside him.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Emily instantly replied, hugging the lemur tightly when Kurt handed it to her. "Thank you!" She squealed, hugging Kurt as well, throwing herself at him with such a force that he almost toppled over. Laughing loudly, he hugged her back, not noticing how Blaine was looking at them, adoringly, with a soft smile on his face. After they pulled away, they headed towards the zoo exit, hailing a cab when they got to the sidewalk and headed back home.

When they got to the apartment, it was time for the cake. After asking Emily to wait in her room and not peek outside, they pulled the cake out of the fridge, lightening nine candles on it and Kurt stated that it looked pretty spectacular, pride lacing his voice. Kurt pulled his phone out and pressed 'record' as Blaine started singing happy birthday loudly, Emily smiling widely and giggling when Blaine started spinning her around, dancing around the table.

"Remember, make a wish." Kurt reminded her when Blaine was done and Emily sat down to blow the candles. After thinking for a few seconds, she closed her eyes and blew out the candles, not missing even a single one, Kurt and Blaine cheering loudly. "Don't tell us or it won't come true." Kurt said, putting the phone back in his pocket and leaning down to hug her. "Happy birthday, Em." He whispered in her ear, squeezing her extra tight and then moved back to let Blaine hug her as well. He took the candles out of the cake and put them on the counter, grabbing a knife and a mug with hot water to cut the cake.

Kurt couldn't help but preen a little when Emily declared their cake the best chocolate cake she had ever eaten and that he was the best cook ever. When Blaine cleared his throat, she immediately corrected herself with a smile, stating that they were both the best cooks in the world. Satisfied, Blaine bumped her fist, making Kurt roll his eyes fondly. She really was Finn's daughter, in every aspect. They spent the rest of the evening playing monopoly, both Kurt and Blaine doing their best not to win, wanting to assure Emily's victory since it was her birthday.

"I think it's time for bed." Kurt said with a smile when Emily started yawning and he could see her eyes closing. Reluctantly, she agreed and, after saying goodnight to Blaine, she went to her room, Kurt following to tuck her into bed. He'd already turned the lights off and was about to leave the room when Emily's voice stopped him.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning around towards her.

"Thank you. Today has been amazing."

Kurt smiled softly. "You're very welcome, sweetheart."

Closing the door to her room, he went back to the living room where Blaine had already cleaned up everything and was sitting on the couch, waiting for him. Settling in next to him, Kurt leaned back on the couch, tilting his head to look at Blaine. They sat like that for a while in a comfortable silence, Blaine's eyes shining softly in the dim light coming from the lamp in the corner, the music playing quietly in the background.

"I think our plan worked out pretty well." Blaine eventually said with a smile, grabbing Kurt's hand and playing with his fingers.

"Your plan." Kurt corrected, looking pointedly at Blaine, squeezing his hand. "I wouldn't have done it without you."

"I'm sure you would have figured something out." Blaine denied, scrunching his nose adorably, making it impossible for Kurt not to lean in and kiss his cheek sweetly.

"I don't know." He said thoughtfully. "Maybe. I just wanted to make this day incredible for her. I remember my first birthday after mom died." He smiled sadly, remembering it like it was yesterday. "I missed her even more that day, but then my dad took me out to our favorite place with ice-cream and, for a little while, everything was better. It didn't hurt that much." Kurt said quietly, looking down on the floor.

"And that's exactly what you did for Emily today, Kurt." Blaine said softly. "What about you? How are you doing?" He asked, brushing his hand gently against Kurt's cheek to make him look at him.

"I'm okay. I just... got a little melancholic, I guess." Kurt replied with a sigh, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Anything I can do to make it better?" Blaine asked, looking at Kurt in a way that made him want to melt into him and stay like that forever.

"Just be with me."

Not saying anything, Blaine scooted closer and wrapped his arms around Kurt, holding him tightly, Kurt leaning his head on his shoulder and closing his eyes. They sat like that for a while, Kurt overwhelmed, in a positive way, by how safe he felt, surrounded by Blaine's strong arms and his familiar scent. He tilted his head to capture Blaine's lips in a soft kiss, breathing through his nose as they kissed slowly, with no urgency between them. Sitting up straighter, he licked Blaine's bottom lip, sliding his tongue into Blaine's mouth when he granted him access, deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck. They kissed for a long time, Kurt wasn't even sure how much time had passed, but that was what usually happened when he was kissing Blaine, it was so easy to get lost in him. Feeling the tiredness catching up with him, he closed his eyes, not wanting to break the kiss, thinking that he would die a happy man if kissing Blaine was the only thing he was allowed to do for the rest of his life.

"Come on." Blaine whispered, pulling away, his breath hot on Kurt's lips. "You're exhausted."

Nodding, Kurt stood up, so did Blaine, and they went to his bedroom, turning all of the lights off on their way. After stripping down to his boxers, Kurt grabbed one of Blaine's t-shirts that were lying around his room and put it on, throwing another one to Blaine, and they got into bed, immediately gravitating towards each other. It took only a couple of minutes for Kurt to fall asleep, his face nestled in the crook of Blaine's neck with his arms wrapped around him. Pulling the blankets over them, Blaine kissed the top of Kurt's head and, maybe if Kurt had stayed awake for a few minutes longer, he would have heard soft words whispered into his hair, barely audible in the dark room.

" _Ti amo, amore mio._ "

* * *

 **I don't think the last sentence needs translating... ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

One day, at the restaurant, they were sitting together at the table during the briefing, half listening to Rachel listing the food they were offering that day, practicing presenting it to the customers, taking turns in doodling some ridiculous drawings on the edge of Kurt's newspaper, when Tina walked up to them, big smile on her face.

"What do you think?" She asked them excitedly, showing them a little box, really tiny, its size maybe slightly bigger than a ring box.

"What's that?" Kurt asked, taking the box and examining it closely.

"Blaine came up with this great idea of sending mini desserts home in a box." Tina said happily, looking at Blaine with a smile, who blushed slightly, but said nothing. "It's so fantastic!" She exclaimed, walking away after being called by one of the waiters.

"So fantastic." Kurt repeated sarcastically under his breath, internally rolling his eyes at Tina, her enthusiasm could be so annoying sometimes.

"Oh, and Blaine!" Tina called over her shoulder, suddenly remembering something. "I love those wines you recommended for the new menu." She said, her smile growing wide again.

"Well, you'll have to discuss that with Kurt…" Blaine started, turning back to her, but Tina was already gone, her heels clicking somewhere in the distance. He turned back to Kurt, looking at him sheepishly with a hesitant smile on his face, and Kurt thinly smiled back, trying to ignore the little pang in his chest, sensing that something was different. The change in the atmosphere was obvious, the rest of briefing passing with the silence between them, no more doodling, secret smiles or light touches under the table.

The similar pattern followed later, back in the kitchen. They were working smoothly and flawlessly, not disrupting each other, but without the usual playfulness and sparks that became a constant element of their routine in the past few weeks. As far as Kurt knew, no one else noticed, the small change in their dynamics visible only to Kurt and Blaine, so they kept going.

It was in the middle of the shift when Tina came into the kitchen. "Blaine, the couple at table three wants to say hello." She said, smiling brightly at Blaine. "They're drooling over the sole."

"Kurt is responsible for all the food." Blaine replied politely, handing the plate with the lamb to Rachel, gesturing at Kurt who was standing right next to him, putting the final touches on the dessert he was preparing, fully aware of the conversation happening right next to him.

"Oh, he hates leaving the kitchen." Tina said, waving her hand dismissively in his direction and turning around to leave.

"Interesting." Kurt spoke suddenly, the venom lacing his voice. "What else can you tell us about him?" He asked, glaring at her, the words barely coming out through his gritted teeth.

"You know what?" Tina said, stopping and looking at them sharply. "I don't care who goes out there. But if it is you…" She started, pointing at Kurt. "Please, do me a favor and try not to stab anyone who complains." She finished and walked out of the kitchen.

Fuming, Kurt turned around to Blaine who had his hands raised up. "Don't look at me."

"You. Me. In there." Kurt snarled quietly, pointing at the cooler room. " _Now._ "

Ignoring everyone in the kitchen, Kurt crossed the distance in a few quick strides, walking into the cooler room, Blaine following and shutting the door close behind them.

"So, what's the story?" Kurt asked right away, not wasting any time to beat around the bush.

"What do you mean?" Blaine replied with a question, his eyes confused, looking so adorable that Kurt almost let it go. Almost.

"I'm focusing a little bit more on Emily than work and suddenly it's, _Blaine, the wine. Blaine, the boxes. Blaine, the customers..._ " He started, changing his voice slightly to imitate Tina's.

"She offered me your job." Blaine interrupted him, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed.

Kurt froze in shock, his mouth hanging open, his heart beating wildly. "What?" He asked quietly, the wave of betrayal washing over him. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, looking at Blaine, not believing what he was hearing, his voice laced with hurt.

"I didn't want to upset you, I was going to tell you…" Blaine started, looking at him pleadingly when Kurt started pacing in the cooler room.

"I knew I couldn't trust you!" This time Kurt interrupted him, exclaiming angrily, making Blaine still, his eyes wide. "The moment I met you, I knew." He spat, walking up closer, pointing his finger at Blaine, all of his old fears and insecurities coming back to him and hitting him with a full force.

Hearing his words, Blaine's demeanor changed and his eyes flashed with anger. "The truth is that you can't trust anyone, Kurt." He said, his expression turning cold. "You've never trusted anyone in your entire life."

"Oh, really, look at you, did you talk to my therapist and decided to swap places with him?" Kurt snarled. "Why should I trust anyone if something like this happens?" With Blaine saying nothing, just looking at him and shaking his head, Kurt continued. "Tell me, Blaine, why didn't you have the guts to run your own kitchen? Instead of coming here and taking over mine?!" He shouted, the angry tears flowing down his face.

"Is that what you think?!" Blaine exclaimed incredulously.

"That's exactly what I think." Kurt said, his voice cold, but inside, his heart was breaking, feeling the pain of being let down again. He had hoped that this time it would be different. He had convinced himself that maybe there was some good in this world after all. All for nothing. They stared at each other, breathing heavily, not saying anything. After a moment, Blaine shook his head and started untying his apron.

"You know what, Kurt…" He started, looking up at Kurt. "It's okay to let people in sometimes. Maybe one day you'll figure it out." He said with a sad smile and reached the knob to open the door.

"You don't get it." Kurt replied, grabbing his shoulder and stopping him, looking at him intently, trying to make him understand. "This place?" He said, pointing at the kitchen. "This is my life. This is who I am."

"No." Blaine replied, shaking his head. "It's not who you are. It's just a little part of you." He said and when Kurt's grip on him loosened, he opened the door and left, leaving Kurt alone in the cooler room, feeling hurt, betrayed and lost. When he emerged a few minutes later, he ignored the looks everyone was throwing at him, and got back to work, snapping a few times, making everyone quickly get back to what they were doing, focusing on their job. Terrorizing the staff was sometimes the best way to get the kitchen to work flawlessly. Thankfully, Tina didn't come in to scream at him for making Blaine leave, it had to be some sort of miracle.

When he finally got home, saying goodnight to Mary, he plopped down on the couch after letting her out. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. He had turned it off earlier, wanting to avoid any calls from Tina or any calls in general. He wasn't in a mood to interact with people. When the screen lit up, he saw he had one voicemail, so he hit play. Blaine's voice sounded through the phone, saying just one short message.

" _Oh, and for the record... I didn't take Tina's offer. I turned her down."_

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut. Everything was catching up with him and he was starting to realize that, maybe, there was a possibility that he might have overreacted. Replaying Blaine's message, he kept listening to his voice, soft and melodious, sounding so off and so not like Blaine, lacking its usual cheerfulness and bubbliness. Hating himself for being a reason for it, realizing that all of the accusations he threw in Blaine's direction were groundless, he stood up from the couch and dragged himself to his bedroom. When he was passing Emily's room, a thin voice stopped him.

"Kurt?" Emily asked quietly, surprising Kurt.

"Em? Why are you awake?" Kurt asked quietly, walking into her room.

"Where's Blaine?" She asked, making Kurt feel a pang in his chest. He completely didn't think about that, how she probably got used to them coming to the apartment together. The truth was, they barely spent any nights apart since they had gotten together.

"He went back home after work." He replied, feeling worse and worse with each second. "Now, get some sleep, it's late." He said with a smile and was about to close the door to her room.

"Kurt?" Emily asked, making him turn back to her.

"Yeah?"

"You can sleep with Sammy if you want." She said, offering her favorite bear to him.

"That's sweet of you, honey." Kurt said, smiling softly. "But I'm sure he needs you more, I'm fine. Goodnight." He said, closing the door, the smile immediately falling from his face when he was out of Emily's sight. Sighing, he went into his own room, curling into his bed miserably, wondering how it would feel to sleep alone again, after so many nights of falling asleep, wrapped in Blaine's arms. As it turned out, it wasn't going to be easy. Kurt couldn't stop tossing around, unable to find a comfortable position. Who knew that he would get used to another body's warmth so quickly, and Kurt suddenly wished he had taken Emily up on her offer to sleep with Sammy tonight. At least he would have something to hold onto. Finally, he managed to fall into a restless sleep, full of thoughts and dreams about Blaine, as if his brain tried to compensate him the lack of the actual person next to him.

When he woke up the next morning, he stretched before automatically rolling on his side and it wasn't until he saw Blaine wasn't in bed next to him when he remembered what happened the previous night. He still had a few minutes before he had to get up, so he lied on his back, staring mindlessly at the ceiling and realizing that it hadn't even been twenty-four hours and he already missed his boyfriend. Or ex-boyfriend? _Were we even boyfriends in the first place?_ Kurt thought, realizing suddenly that they had never talked about that. After their late date in the restaurant and then after having sex, they just went along with it, spending time together, hanging out, kissing and sleeping together, but none of them actually said _that_ word.

 _Well, whatever it was between us, it doesn't matter now, it's over,_ Kurt thought bitterly, knowing well that it was his own fault. With a sigh, he got up, knowing he had to get through the day, even though he would much rather stay in bed, listening to sad music and eating his worries away, most preferably with ice-cream.

Thankfully, Emily didn't ask any more questions that day, acting just the way she usually did, proving to be a great distraction, telling him about something that happened at school the previous day, and Kurt listened to her intently, happy to have something else to focus his mind on. It was great while it lasted, but, unfortunately, the distraction came to an end when he dropped Emily off at school and was, once again, alone with his thoughts.

When he got back home, thinking about how he usually spent that time with Blaine, hanging around in his apartment, talking about everything and nothing or how Blaine would occupy himself if Kurt was busy, each of them doing their own thing, all of it feeling so domestic, that Kurt was honestly surprised that he was so comfortable with it. He had never been good with sharing his space, but with Blaine it came so easy to him, so effortless, like it had never been in his previous relationships.

Pushing the memories away, Kurt sat on the couch, staring down on his phone, his finger hovering above Blaine's name on the screen. He wanted to call him so badly, to apologize for overreacting and being such and idiot, but something was stopping him. With a sigh, he threw his phone away, leaning back on the couch and closing his eyes. It would probably be better if he gave Blaine more time, he probably didn't want to hear from Kurt anyway, not that Kurt could blame him. He wouldn't want to talk to himself either. Figuring it was for the best, he grabbed the remote to turn on the tv, watching some reruns currently playing, trying to ignore the phone lying next to him and how all that he wanted was to hear Blaine's voice again.

Later that day, in the restaurant, Tina cornered him before they opened.

"You had no right to drive Blaine out of here." She hissed angrily, stabbing his chest with her finger. "This is my restaurant."

"Oh, you've made it abundantly clear." Kurt replied coldly, staring her right in the eyes.

"Yes, and now I lost a great chef, only because you decided to fuck around with him and when you got bored, you ended it." Tina said and her words made Kurt see red. He straightened up, towering above her, his fists clenched.

"Don't you dare assume you know anything about me and my life." Kurt snarled, seething and glaring deadly at Tina.

"You know what? I don't care." Tina said with a shrug and a wave of her hand, and god, Kurt wished he had a knife in his hand, so he could stab the bitch to death. "You better find me a replacement. Fast." She added and stormed away, her heels clicking loudly on the floor.

"Funny, you didn't have a problem with finding the previous one by yourself." Kurt muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He headed back to the kitchen, ready to murder anyone who got in his way, but deflating slightly when he noticed how quiet it was. There was no music playing, no one was singing or even humming under their breath. Everything was just like it had been before, calm, strict, pristine.

In that moment it truly hit Kurt, that Blaine was really gone for good.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

One Sunday, they were a having a quiet night in. Kurt was sitting at the desk in the living room, working on some new recipes he planned to try out and Emily was lying on the couch, flipping through the channels, looking for something to watch.

"Why isn't Blaine around anymore?" She suddenly asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"We had a fight." Kurt said eventually, after a moment of thinking, wondering what to tell her.

"What about?" She asked, turning around on the couch to look at him.

"Just silly grown up stuff." Kurt replied, Emily narrowing her eyes.

"Why don't you want to tell me?" She asked, turning back to the TV and Kurt had a bad feeling about that.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you…"

"Is he going to come back at all?" Emily interrupted him, still looking at the TV, but Kurt was pretty sure he heard tears in her voice.

"I don't think so, sweetie." He replied quietly, his heart heavy, the painful memories of his last conversation with Blaine coming back to him. He was broken out of his reverie by Emily abruptly standing up and walking out of the living room, the sound of the door to her bedroom shutting behind her sounding through the apartment a few seconds later. Figuring it was for the best to give her some time, Kurt didn't follow, staying where he was, but not going back to the recipes. It was pointless, he wasn't able to focus on them anyway, too distracted by thoughts of Blaine. Kurt knew that he was the one that had been wrong, after all. But he had no idea what to do about it, his pride not letting him take the first step. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, thinking about this mess, the mess that was entirely his fault, was emotionally exhausting. Standing up, he headed to his bedroom, grabbing his favorite book and settling in his bed, hoping to busy his mind with something else. After a while, when his eyes started closing and he couldn't stop the yawn escaping from his mouth, he decided to give up, turning the lamp off and calling it a night. He hoped that Emily wouldn't be too upset in the morning, although he had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy.

* * *

"Emily!" Kurt called out, as he dried his hair with a towel. "I'm done here, the bathroom is yours!"

Not getting any response, which was actually weird, he called out again. "Em, you awake?" With the following silence, Kurt frowned and walked to her room, only to find the bed completely made and Emily nowhere in sight. He tried to calm his heart that started to speed up slightly and went to the kitchen, figuring she was probably having breakfast. When he didn't find her there, he ran back to his room, panic growing with each second, then he checked the living room, her bedroom again and the bathroom – Emily was nowhere to be found, she was gone. Freaking out, he put some clothes on and ran out of the apartment, his last hope being that maybe Emily decided to get to school early by her own. When he rushed into the building, he ran to the principal office, unfortunately, only to get the kind of news he was dreading, Emily wasn't there. After calling the police and getting reassurance from them that they were on their way to check the train and bus stations, he called the only person he could think of.

"Kurt?" Blaine's confused voice sounded through the phone when he answered after the second ring. "What's going…"

"Emily." Kurt started, but he wasn't able to control the tears anymore and the sob came out of his mouth. "She's gone, Blaine, she's gone…"

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Blaine asked, his voice growing serious and worried and there was some rustle in the background and a sound of a door closing.

"When I woke up, she wasn't in the apartment." Kurt stuttered out between sobs, pacing outside of the school and desperately trying to get himself together.

"What about her school?" Blaine asked, the sounds of traffic appearing in the background, as if he just got outside.

"I'm here right now, they haven't seen her. I called the police, but…" Kurt said, his voice starting to break down again.

"Okay, Kurt, I'm on my way." Blaine said. "We'll take my car and go around the neighborhood."

"Thank you, Blaine, so much." Kurt sobbed out, not able to calm his breaths, the panic settling deep in his chest.

"Of course, Kurt." Blaine replied softly, making Kurt feel even worse. "Hang on, I'll be there soon."

When Blaine got to the school and parked by the sidewalk, he immediately jumped out of the car, opening his arms and catching Kurt, just as he threw himself at him, enveloping him in a tight hug, slowly stroking his back while Kurt hid his face in the crook of Blaine's neck, crying quietly.

"I can't lose her, Blaine." He said, clutching Blaine's arms, his voice desperate. "Not her too."

"You're not going to lose her." Blaine said firmly, pulling away and making Kurt look at him. "We'll find her."

They got into the car and started driving around, looking at every street, every alley, every corner. In the meantime, Kurt got a call back from the police, but the officer had only informed him that there was no sign of her at any of the stations, but they had left patrols there in case Emily showed up.

"Hey, maybe she got back home?" Blaine suddenly asked and turned the car, driving back to Kurt's apartment. They ran up the stairs, storming into the apartment, Kurt immediately calling out Emily's name, both of them running around and checking every room, looking for Emily or a note from her, anything that would tell them where she was. Kurt paused in Emily's room, looking at all of her toys, the stuffed animals when something caught his eyes. He walked closer to the bed and grabbed the small teddy bear, Sammy, definitely the most beloved animal Emily had. He looked at it and tears started pooling in his eyes again, as he hugged it close to his chest.

"Did she take her backpack? She wouldn't run away without anything." Blaine's voice sounded from the hall and seconds later, he walked into Emily's room. "Kurt?"

"She didn't take Sammy." Kurt said, stroking the bear's ear. He turned to look at Blaine, his eyes desperate, not daring to hope. "He's her favorite, you know it. She wouldn't have run away without him, right?" He asked, hoping Blaine would answer him, but knowing he couldn't.

"Kurt…" Blaine said softly, sitting next to him and putting his arm around him. "Look, she hasn't been in this city for too long. Is there any place that would feel familiar to her? Safe?"

"She's only ever been to the school and the restaurant." Kurt shook his head sadly, but suddenly a thought popped up in his head. Blaine, noticing the sudden change in expression on Kurt's face, looked at him intently.

"I think I might know where she is." Kurt said and they both rushed out of the apartment when he told Blaine where to go.

Blaine was driving as fast as he could without breaking any rules or putting their lives in danger and soon enough, they were pulling up at the cemetery. Kurt jumped out of the car and ran in the direction of Finn's grave, spotting the small figure sitting on the ground next to it when he got closer.

"Emily!" He called out, dropping to the ground and hugging her tightly. "Why did you disappear like that, I was worried something had happened to you!" He said, his voice breaking, looking at her and trying to understand. And he did, when she raised her head and looked at him with her eyes full of tears. He understood even before she spoke.

"I don't want to forget him. And I'm afraid I will." She whispered fearfully.

"Emily." Kurt said softly, hugging her again, turning his head slightly and noticing Blaine watching them from the distance, a relieved smile on his face. "We can come here as often as you want, we'll look at the photos and the videos, I promise you, we'll never forget him." He felt Emily nod against his chest and kissed the top of her head. After a short while, they got up and walked up to Blaine, the man ruffling Emily's hair with a smile, but Kurt knew that he had been just as worried as he was and this was his way of calming the nerves, happy to know she was safe. They drove back to Kurt's place in silence, only broken by Emily when Blaine parked the car.

"You're coming in, Blaine?" She asked from the backseat, looking at him through the rear view mirror.

Blaine smiled, but shook his head. "Not today, sweetie."

"Are you still mad at each other?" She asked shyly.

Kurt turned around to look at her and smiled. "No, honey." He took out the keys from his pocket and handed them to her. "Why don't you go up and I'll be there in a second?"

When Emily got out of the car, Kurt looked at Blaine. "I… Thank you. I don't know what I would do without you." He said sincerely. "I also want to say sorry, I just…"

"Hey, hey, you don't have to apologize." Blaine interrupted him. "I actually want to thank you. I thought a lot about what you said about me not having the guts to go after what I want, about not having courage." He started and Kurt was about to apologize again, but Blaine raised his hand to stop him. "No, you were right, Kurt. That's why I took a job." He said and, after a deep breath, he added. "In LA."

The moment he said it, Kurt could feel his heart drop down into his stomach. Los Angeles. The other side of the country. Not noticing how Kurt's face fell, Blaine continued. "The executive chef at a new restaurant."

Kurt swallowed down the lump in his throat and tried to smile. "That's… That's amazing, Blaine." He said, and discreetly took a deep breath to calm down the tremors in his voice. "You really deserve it."

"Thank you." Blaine said softly. "I couldn't have done it without you, so really, thank you." He added, pulling Kurt into a short hug, probably unaware of how Kurt's heart just shattered into pieces.

When they pulled apart, Kurt was barely holding himself together. "Good luck, Blaine." He said and with one last smile, he got out of the car, waving at Blaine as he drove away, seeing him probably for the last time in his life, the realization hitting him that he had fucked up one of the best things that had ever happened to him. Up until then he still hoped that, somehow, he would manage to fix everything between them, he had been trying to figure out how to talk to Blaine, but it didn't matter now. It was too late, he had waited for too long. Taking a deep breath, he headed upstairs to the apartment, holding back the tears, knowing that Emily was waiting for him. When he shut the door behind him, he leaned against it, closing his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Emily's voice startled him a few minutes later and when he opened his eyes, he saw her standing in the hall, looking at him with concern.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Kurt said, trying to smile. "I'm just happy you're safe."

"I'm sorry I ran away." Emily said, looking down at her feet. "I won't do it again, I promise."

"I know." Kurt replied, walking up to her and hugging her tightly. "There's no point in taking you to school today, so why don't you watch some TV and I'll take a quick shower, and when I'm done, we'll play Monopoly again. Sounds good?" He asked, eliciting a happy squeal from Emily as she ran to the living room to set up everything.

As soon as she couldn't see him, the smile faded from his face. He quickly walked to the bathroom, locking the door behind him. Turning the shower loud enough to muffle any sounds, he slid down the wall, not able to stop the tears anymore, wrapping his arms around his knees as the sobs wrecked out of his body. Curling up in himself, he kept crying, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. He threw his head back against the wall, burying his fingers in his hair, the guilt and regret washing over him, making him cry even harder. He couldn't help but think about Blaine, about his smile, his eyes looking at him with such a softness and adoration, about his arms wrapped around him and about how the world always seemed to stop when he was kissing him.

He pulled the phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through the photos, his heart clenching when he came across the photo of Blaine with Emily, both covered in flour. Kurt remembered that day, they were supposed to make cookies, but then one thing led to another and, soon enough, Blaine and Emily were throwing flour at each other, making a complete mess out of Kurt's kitchen. They were looking so happy and adorable while doing so, that Kurt didn't have it in him to be mad, so he grabbed his phone instead, snapping a few pictures.

The next photo made his heart shatter all over again, more tears flowing out of his eyes. It was the picture of him and Blaine, taken one sunny day when they were walking through the park. Blaine had his arms wrapped around Kurt, nuzzling his cheek, and Kurt was grinning widely, his hands resting on Blaine's shoulders. Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, the memory too painful for him to handle. What he couldn't understand was why it hurt this much, why it felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest, torn to pieces and then run over by a truck. He kept asking himself those questions and, suddenly, he understood and the realization made him whimper in pain, not physical, but just as much destructive.

 _So that's how it feels to be in love. And this is how it hurts when you have lost it._

Kurt had been hoping to find love ever since he was a little kid. He thought he gave up on it after he had become a chef, figuring cooking and his kitchen were everything he needed, but, deep inside him, the dream was alive. And when he finally found love, he lost it in a blink of an eye. And he had only himself to blame.

Standing up, Kurt turned the shower off and, on wobbly feet, he walked to the sink. Sniffing, he looked at his reflection in the mirror, puffy eyes, tear stricken face. He tried washing it with cold water, hoping to make himself look more presentable, desperately wanting to hide any signs of crying. After toweling his face and deciding that he looked a lot better, he leaned against the sink, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself, even though he still felt like crying. He cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn't sound too hoarse and exited the bathroom, doing his best to look relaxed and rested, not crestfallen and devastated, like he felt inside. Thankfully, hanging out with Emily and playing Monopoly helped him to get it all off his mind, at least for a short while. Time passed quickly as it always did during that game, and just as they were wrapping up, the doorbell rang which meant Mary was there. After letting her in, Kurt began getting ready to go to work and was already putting his coat on when Emily came out of the kitchen.

"Kurt?" She asked timidly, biting her lip, looking as if she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if she should.

"Yeah?" Kurt asked, looking at her encouragingly, intrigued by the sudden silence.

"I know that me running away wasn't the only reason you have been sad all day." She finally said, making Kurt's jaw hit the floor, and he was about to assure her that it wasn't true, but she was quicker. "You're really good at hiding it, but not good enough. And I know you were crying in the bathroom." She added sadly and Kurt was looking at her with wide eyes, speechless, completely at loss what to say.

"How do you…" He started, but Emily interrupted him.

"I'm nine, I'm not blind. Or stupid." She said with a faint smile. Kurt nodded, and, figuring their conversation was over, he was about to leave.

"You should go after him, you know." Emily's voice stopped him when he was opening the door. Before he had time to say anything, she disappeared back into the kitchen, her words ringing loudly in Kurt's head all the way to the restaurant.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

" _I did trust him, you know." Kurt said, staring through the window in Dr. Michaels' office._

" _Blaine?" The therapist enquired, eliciting an affirmative hum from Kurt._

" _But then, I let my insecurities ruin everything." Kurt continued after a short moment of silence, his voice hollow and full of regret. "And instead of trying to fix it right away, I did nothing, waiting god knows for what." He said, shaking his head, disappointed with himself. "I just didn't know what to do. And now he's leaving."_

 _Sensing Kurt had more to say, but was struggling, Dr. Michaels stayed quiet, giving Kurt time to gather his thoughts. "I wish there was a cookbook for life, you know?" Kurt said, turning away from the window, beginning slowly strolling through the office. "With the recipes telling us exactly what to do."_

" _I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that we have to learn from our mistakes and how could we learn if we had the script written for us?" Kurt continued, looking at his therapist for the first time since he came to the office that day._

" _Actually, I wasn't going to say that." Dr. Michaels shook his head with a smile. "Want to keep guessing?"_

" _No, go ahead." Kurt said tiredly, sitting up on the couch._

" _What I was going to say…" Dr. Michaels started, looking softly at him. "You know better than anyone, Kurt. It's the recipes that you create yourself that are the best."_

* * *

It was a few days later and Kurt was in a particularly bad mood. Right before he left for work, a song came on the radio and it just happened to be one of the songs Blaine loved singing in the kitchen, so it immediately got to him. Hearing it made him feel miserable all over again, his heart clenching painfully at the memory of Blaine dancing ridiculously around the kitchen while Kurt tried to scold him, but with no real heat behind it, rolling his eyes fondly. He immediately turned off the radio, but the damage was already done. Trying to compose himself, he headed to the restaurant, hoping the day would go peacefully and end quickly. Apparently, no such luck. Kurt was in the middle of preparing the lamb when Rachel came back from the dining hall, carrying a plate with the steak.

"The guy from table seven said that if he wanted his steak cremated he wouldn't have asked for it rare." She said, rolling her eyes, setting the plate on the counter.

Kurt handed the lamb to Emma, his new sous-chef, letting her finish and walked up, stabbing the steak with his finger, watching the meat, seeing just the right amount of blood on the plate. "That is rare."

"Apparently not rare enough." Tina said with a shrug, walking up to them, and, honestly, Kurt was starting to get sick of her dismissive attitude.

"Any rarer and it would walk out of here and hail a cab." Kurt retorted with a raised eyebrow, making the few people next to him giggle under their breaths.

"Look." Tina started, looking at him pointedly. "Those are the people that run a few banks or something, I don't know, but they always leave a lot of money here." Kurt was about to say how much he didn't care about that, but Tina raised her finger to silence him. "No tantrums tonight. Just fire another one."

Kurt narrowed his eyes at being shut down like that, but bit his tongue, and, glaring at Tina one last time, he turned around to one of the cooks. "Fire one rare steak on the fly." After getting a confirmation that it was being done as quickly as possible, he busied himself with other dishes, coming back to the steak when it was ready. Checking if it was rare, he decided it was perfect and handed it to Rachel to carry it to the table. Sometime later, when he was giving out a lamb and a quail to the other waiters, Rachel came back, the plate in her hand.

"It's from the asshole at table seven again." She said, fuming, putting the plate down with a loud bang. "He wants to know whether you've ever seen a rare steak before."

And with that, Kurt had had enough and in that second, he made up his mind about what he wanted to do. Dropping everything he was doing, Kurt grabbed a big fork, walked to where they kept the raw meat, and stabbed it forcefully into one of the steaks. Picking it up, the steak hanging from the fork, he crossed the kitchen in a few long strides, getting out to the restaurant, attracting surprised glances from the other customers as he headed to table seven, the fork with a steak still firmly in his hand.

Walking up to the table, he plunged the meat into the table, right in front of the guy, making him yelp. "Rare enough for you?" Kurt asked through gritted teeth, the fire blazing out of his eyes.

"Are you out of your mind?!" The customer exclaimed.

"Yeah." Kurt said smugly, his hands on his hips. "That's why I'm in therapy."

In that moment, Tina came running from the kitchen. "I'm so sorry." She started apologizing, trying to save the situation. "I'll get you a new tablecloth." She said, trying to take the things of the table, but Kurt firmly pushed her away.

"Oh, no, please." He said sweetly. "Let me take care of that." And with that, he grabbed the edge of the tablecloth and with one swift move, he smoothly yanked it from the table, leaving the dishes and everything else still standing firmly on the table. Hearing the awed gasps from other customers, he walked up to Tina, untying his apron.

"That felt really good." He said, shoving the apron into her hands and with one last wave to the people from the staff that were standing next to the kitchen door, watching him, clapping and cheering loudly, he stormed out of the restaurant, his head held high with pride, the cheers of the customers who joined with their clapping following him out of building. He quickly hailed a cab and after telling the driver the address, he slumped down in the backseat, trying to come up with a plan. There was one more thing he needed to take care of or try to, at least.

When they arrived in the right place, Kurt paid the driver and got out of the cab, shivering slightly at the cold. In all this rush, he left his coat and some of his stuff at the restaurant, he would have to come back to get them later, but that was the last thing on his mind right now. Coming in through the front door, he hoped he was at the right address, looking around as he waited for the old elevator. He remembered how he used to live in a building like that, back when he had just moved to New York, living in Bushwick. When he got into the elevator and pushed the button, the elevator let out a weird sound, but then started moving, slowly, until it reached the right floor. He headed towards the door to the only apartment on that floor and, after taking a deep breath, he knocked. He could hear music playing from the inside that was immediately turned down after he knocked, and then he heard the sound of footsteps. Seconds later the door opened, revealing Blaine whose eyes widened in surprise when he saw who was on the other side.

"Kurt?" He asked, looking at him with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "Wait, it's so cold out there, why aren't you wearing…"

"I'm an idiot." Kurt interrupted him and seeing Blaine open his mouth again, he looked at him pleadingly. "Please, let me say what I need to say. Then you can talk or throw me out or anything."

When Blaine nodded, wearing an expression that meant he was listening intently, and Kurt's heart melted a little at this little sense of familiarity, and he took a deep breath. "You were right, I don't trust people. I've been burnt too many times, trusting someone at first only to end up hurt and disappointed." He started, his voice wavering slightly. "So, years ago, I built those walls around myself, hoping they would protect me from getting hurt. I just didn't realize that they were shielding me from the good things as well." He said, looking down and bracing himself for what he wanted to say next.

"Blaine…" He tried, his voice breaking, and looked up at Blaine, tears pooling in his eyes. "You came into my life like a hurricane and you knocked those walls down effortlessly, so effortlessly that it scared me. And when I'm scared I… I run. I push people away. But I'm done with that now." He was fully crying by then, but he kept going, he needed Blaine to know.

"What I'm trying to say… I know that's selfish of me, but I have to try." Kurt paused, squeezing his eyes shut. "Please, don't go to LA." He said, wrapping his arms around himself, as if to try to keep himself from literally falling apart. "Please, don't go." He whispered, looking down, swallowing down tears and, suddenly, there were arms wrapping around him, hugging him tightly.

"Kurt…" Blaine said, his voice hoarse, holding him close as Kurt shook in his arms.

"I'm so sorry." Kurt sobbed into the crook of Blaine's neck, his hands clinging tightly to his cardigan. "I'm so sorry, please don't go. Please, don't leave me."

Not letting go, Blaine guided them into the apartment and kicked the door to close it. He kept stroking Kurt's back, trying to calm him down and, after a few minutes, Kurt's sobs started to die down, his body relaxing a little. He pulled away, wiping his eyes and looking at Blaine sadly.

"I'm an idiot." He repeated. "This is your big chance and I'm here, begging you not to take it only because of me." He said, shaking his head, disappointed with himself. He was about to say more, but he was abruptly silenced by Blaine's lips on his. The kiss was short, soft and sweet, but it left Kurt breathless, staring at Blaine with wide eyes, not believing what was happening.

"Kurt." Blaine said, stroking Kurt's cheek gently. "I can work anywhere. I only took this job because it hurt too much to stay."

Guilt washed over Kurt again, but Blaine noticed before he could start apologizing, and put his hands on the sides of Kurt's face, making him look at him. "Hey, hey. It's okay." He said soothingly. "We make mistakes, we're not perfect. Any of us." Seeing Kurt calm down a little, he took his hand and let him to the couch. After they sat down, Blaine pulled Kurt's legs on his lap and looked at him curiously.

"So, now that we got the emotional stuff out of the way…" Blaine started, making Kurt giggle wetly. "Care to tell me why you look like you have just run out of the kitchen?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing the chef's uniform Kurt was wearing, and god, Kurt had missed it so much.

"Because that's exactly what I did." He said with a grin. "I might have quit my job."

"No shit." He said, looking at him unbelievingly and Kurt chuckled at Blaine's shocked expression. "What happened?"

"It's a long story, so I'll give you the shorter version. The guy kept complaining his steak wasn't rare enough, but it was perfect, thank you very much." Kurt scoffed, making Blaine roll his eyes fondly. Smiling, he continued. "So I plunged a raw one into the table, right in front of him." Blaine gasped, motioning him to keep going, so he did. "Tina started panicking, of course, but I wouldn't be myself if I didn't make it spectacular, so I did the tablecloth trick and then threw my apron at Tina, and stormed out of the restaurant, followed by the rest of the staff and customers clapping and cheering." Kurt finished with a grin, Blaine shaking his head with a laugh.

Kurt's smile softened as he looked at him. "It was legendary, Kurt Hummel leaving everything behind, in the wave of glory, going after the man he fell head over heels in love with." He said quietly, making Blaine still completely and look up at him.

"You…" He started, his eyes shining.

"I love you, Blaine Anderson." Kurt said with a smile, his voice sounding more confident and Blaine surged forward, making Kurt fall back on the couch, kissing him passionately.

"I love you too, you asshole." He muttered teasingly against his lips.

They kissed slowly for a few minutes, until Kurt pulled out, looking into Blaine's eyes. "I'm really sorry." He apologized again, tracing Blaine's features with his fingers. "For doubting you."

"It's okay." Blaine whispered, punctuating his answer with a kiss. "I'm sorry, too. For not telling you about Tina's offer."

Kurt shook his head. "You didn't have to tell me. Especially since you didn't take it."

"Still. You deserved to know."

"I wonder what Tina is going to do next." Kurt said suddenly. "At least half of the customers was coming only to eat my food and, now, she only has Emma, the new sous-chef. She's not bad, but I don't think she's capable of running the kitchen on her own."

"Tina will have to figure something out." Blaine replied easily, shrugging. "She was actually creeping me out a little." He added, making Kurt look up at him, intrigued. "Remember that day off you took a while ago to spend it with Emily?" When Kurt nodded, he sat up, pulling Kurt up along with him before continuing.

"Well, before I came to your apartment that night, Tina offered me a drink after we closed up, and I accepted because why not, I thought she wanted to talk about a menu or something. But during the entire conversation she kept shooting me those flirtatious glances." He said, shuddering and making a disgusted face, unaware that Kurt's body was shaking with a silent laughter. "She also kept hinting on how lonely she was and… Wait a second, what are you… That's not funny!" He exclaimed when Kurt couldn't keep it quiet anymore and burst out laughing, so hard that he almost fell off the couch. Until he actually did when Blaine pushed him off it.

"Oh my god, she has a crush on you." He kept laughing hysterically, lying on the floor, holding his sides that were starting to hurt. "Holy shit, she's a hag, oh my god, Quinn won't believe this…"

"I wonder how you would react if you'd be the one getting hit on by a woman." Blaine said, pouting, sitting cross-legged on the couch.

Kurt, his laugh subsiding to little giggles, got up from the floor and sat next to him. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry." He tried to apologize, but it was hard to believe it was genuine since he couldn't stop giggling. "But I'll be honest, I can't really blame her, you're too cute for your own good." He said, kissing Blaine's cheek, making him smile a little.

"But she knows I'm gay." Blaine said, not pouting anymore. "Why would she flash her boobs at me?"

That question made Kurt laugh all over again, but this time, Blaine joined him.

"God, I'm glad I didn't know that back when I was working, I'd probably drag her to the cooler room and stab her." Kurt said, wiping the tears from his eyes, breathing deeply, trying to calm himself.

"Jealous, Hummel?" Blaine purred in his ear, his voice suddenly dropping low.

Kurt shivered at his tone and wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders. "Maybe."

"Can you stay?" Blaine mumbled, his mouth already on Kurt's neck.

"I called Mary on my way here, she's staying with Em for the night and she'll take her to school in the morning." Kurt replied breathlessly, fisting Blaine's shirt when he nipped lightly on the skin, moaning when Blaine laid them back on the couch, his hands sliding down to the waistband of his jeans.

"Good." He said, his fingers grazing at Kurt's zipper, making him whimper when they brushed against his already hardening cock. "Because I have plans."

His hips bucked and Kurt sighed when Blaine moved his hands back up, sliding them under his shirt. Feeling his touch against his skin felt like coming home and he was so happy that he could cry that he got another chance to be with that man again. Tilting his head, he tugged on Blaine's hair, pulling him away from his neck, and kissed him passionately, desperate to show him how much he meant to him and wanting to make up for the lost time. Blaine responded eagerly, sliding his tongue into Kurt's mouth, deepening the kiss, making those little sounds that Kurt had missed so much. Without breaking the kiss, Kurt slid his hands down, trying to work on Blaine's belt, but it proved to be quite difficult, while being distracted by Blaine's lips. Feeling him struggle and pawing blindly, Blaine pulled away with a soft chuckle.

"Need a hand?" He asked teasingly, his voice low and raspy, sending spikes of arousal through Kurt's body. In that moment, Kurt finally managed to undo the belt and the trousers Blaine was wearing, letting out a triumphant noise and then sliding his hands under the material, cupping Blaine's ass through his underwear and bringing him closer, joining their hips, making them both moan.

"Bedroom?" Blaine asked hoarsely, rolling his hips down.

"Mmm, too far." Kurt mumbled, pulling Blaine into a kiss, thrusting up, meeting his movements, and desperately seeking some friction.

"Are we really going to come in our pants like teenagers?" Blaine laughed breathlessly, the laugh quickly morphing into a groan with a particularly sharp thrust.

"I don't care." Kurt gasped, wrapping his legs around Blaine's hips, both to bring him closer and to have better leverage. "I missed you."

"Missed you too." Blaine rasped out, rolling his hips down harder and faster, panting in the crook of Kurt's neck, his movements getting sloppier as he got closer to the edge.

"K-kurt…" He stuttered out and Kurt grabbed his ass to pull him closer, rubbing his thigh against Blaine's hard cock and, with a long groan, Blaine came, Kurt feeling him pulsing against him. Pulling him in a messy kiss, it only took a couple of thrusts and Blaine cupping Kurt's cock through his jeans and Kurt came as well, whimpering at the sudden pleasure, holding Blaine close as they both shivered slightly with the aftershocks, coming down from the high. Blaine collapsed on top of Kurt, lying on his chest, both of their hearts beating wildly as they panted heavily, waiting to catch their breaths.

"I love you." Blaine mumbled sleepily against Kurt's shirt.

"I love you too." Kurt replied, kissing Blaine's head, the curls that managed to get free from under the gel tickling his chin. "But if you fall asleep on me when I have cum drying in my pants, I'm tossing you off the couch." He added, smirking lazily when Blaine looked up at him, pouting.

"Unfair." He whined, but complied, sitting up slowly, straddling Kurt and wincing at the uncomfortable feeling in his underwear. "Although, you may have a point."

"Always do." Kurt said, patting Blaine's thighs to make him move, sitting up as well, pecking Blaine on the mouth. "Shower?"

When Blaine nodded, they headed into the bathroom, quickly undressing and tossing their clothes aside and stepped under the spray of water. Too spent to do anything else besides actually showering, they made it quick, Kurt burying his fingers in Blaine's hair and washing out all of the gel while Blaine cleaned them off the dried cum. After getting out of the shower, they wrapped themselves in towels and went to Blaine's bedroom, Blaine grabbing two pairs of boxers and t-shirts for them to sleep in. Wearing Blaine's clothes again felt so intimate and Kurt couldn't stop the grin spreading on his face, his heart soaring with how much he loved this man.

"What?" Blaine asked from where he was sitting on the bed, his eyes smiling as he noticed Kurt grinning like a lunatic.

"Nothing." He replied with a shake of his head, crawling into the bed, immediately shifting closer to Blaine, desperate for his touch after such a long time without it. Blaine wrapped his arms around him instantly, Kurt placing his one hand on his chest, using another one to play with Blaine's loose curls, still a little wet after the shower. They were lying on their sides, facing each other, in a comfortable silence and Kurt looked into Blaine's hazel eyes, not believing how he got so lucky.

"I wanted to call you right away, you know." Kurt suddenly said, quietly, turning his gaze away and focusing on a point on Blaine's shoulder. "After our fight in the restaurant. The next day, I took Emily to school and when I got back, all I wanted to do was call you."

"Why didn't you?" Blaine asked softly, stroking his arm comfortingly, no judgment or anger in his voice.

Kurt half-shrugged, as much as he could while lying on his side. "I knew I was the one that was wrong and I was afraid you wouldn't answer the phone. Therefore, at first, I wanted to give you some time to cool off. And then I just didn't know what to say." He said, fiddling with Blaine's curl. "I'm not very good with people." He added, looking up at Blaine with a hesitant, sheepish smile.

"You don't say." Blaine replied teasingly, raising his eyebrow. "And for the record? I'll always pick up your calls. No matter what I'm doing." He said and leaned in to give Kurt a sweet kiss.

"Oh, yeah? Even when you're in the middle of seasoning the fish, the kitchen is a mess and you still have five other dishes to prepare?" Kurt asked jokingly.

"Even then." Blaine said, his smile turning softer. "You're more important than anything."

Kurt swallowed down hard, feeling the tears prickling in his eyes and cursing himself internally for being such an emotional mess. "And so are you to me." He said quietly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that."

At his words, Blaine pulled him closer, kissing him again, a little bit more passionately than before. "Forgiven." He muttered against his lips and Kurt leaned in, closing the gap between them again, letting himself get lost in Blaine. They kept kissing, Kurt once again coming to the conclusion that post-sex making out was definitely one of his favorites, until the exhaustion started taking over them. They traded lazy kisses, until they fell asleep, the scent of coffee, cinnamon and simply Blaine being the last thing Kurt registered as he nuzzled against him, slowly drifting off with only one thought on his mind.

 _I'm home._

* * *

A few days later, Kurt was sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for Quinn to meet him for lunch. To kill time, he was looking through the window, admiring the view. The sun was shining, nature was slowly waking up with spring right around the corner, the birds were chirping, but Kurt knew that it wasn't the only reason for everything looking so beautiful. Truth be told, everything seemed to be brighter with Blaine back in his life, and it could be raining outside and Kurt probably wouldn't notice, Blaine's smile was able to make anything go away. Knowing now, how life was without him, Kurt had a clear preference and he had vowed to himself that he would never let him go again. Though, even if he did, he probably wouldn't live long enough to regret it, Emily would for sure kill him as soon as she found out. Kurt shook his head with a smile as he remembered her reaction when he and Blaine were waiting for her at the school that day after they got back together.

" _Blaine!" Emily yelled as soon as she saw them, running down the stairs and throwing herself into his arms, Blaine picking her up and spinning around with a laugh before setting her down._

" _I missed you." Emily said, hugging Blaine again and then turning her head to look questioningly at Kurt. "Is Blaine your boyfriend again?"_

 _Sharing a soft look with Blaine, Kurt smiled to her. "Yeah, he is. You okay with that?"_

 _Emily looking at him incredulously was an answer good enough and the fact she kept holding Blaine's hand during the entire walk back home proved that she was more than okay with keeping Blaine around._

Lost in the memories flashing back in his mind, Kurt didn't notice Quinn until she sat down in front of him, already with a coffee and a sandwich in her hand. Startled, Kurt looked up to see her looking at him with an arched eyebrow. "Earth to Hummel?"

Ignoring the remark, Kurt kissed her cheek in a lieu of greeting and quickly walked to the counter to order his coffee and food as well. Few minutes later, he got back to the table, sitting down and getting ready, knowing exactly how the conversation would start.

"So, you got your head out of your ass?" Quinn asked with a smirk.

"I did." Kurt confirmed with a smile.

"Good. Otherwise I would have to cut your balls off."

Kurt choked on his coffee at her casual tone, Quinn chuckling lightly, seeing the expression on his face. "Relax, you're safe now. Besides, I think Blaine wouldn't appreciate if I did that." She added with a sly grin.

"Oh, definitely, he's very possessive of what's his." Kurt retorted, quickly regaining his wit, smirking smugly.

"So, any regrets about leaving _Le Palais_?" Quinn asked, changing the subject.

Kurt shook his head. "None. I've been putting up with Tina long enough and Q, you should have seen her face when I left." He said with a laugh, smiling at the memory.

"Actually, I did." Quinn admitted with a smirk, Kurt looking at her in surprise. "When you stormed out of the kitchen with that raw steak, Rachel had a feeling something spectacular would happen and she followed you immediately with her phone out. She got it all."

"All of it?"

"All of it." Quinn confirmed. "From the moment you plunged that fork into the table to the moment of your departure."

They looked at each other for a second, saying nothing, and then Kurt grinned his eyes glinting devilishly. "Can you send it to me?"

Laughing loudly, Quinn grabbed her phone and, after typing for a few seconds, Kurt's phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Thanks." He grinned and they fell silent for a while, drinking their coffees and eating their food, but Kurt noticed Quinn biting her lip and shooting him hesitant glances. Setting his coffee aside, he fixed her with a pointed look. "Spill it, Q." He said and she looked up at him with surprise, and then rolled her eyes fondly. He knew her better than most people thought he did.

"Tina offered me your position after I come back from maternity leave." Quinn said, looking at him warily.

Kurt's eyes widened. "That's amazing! Congratulations!" He exclaimed. "Why were you afraid to tell me?"

"I don't even know. I thought that maybe you…" She started, breaking off in the middle of the sentence, shrugging helplessly.

"Quinn, it's not like you stole my job, I left." He said matter-of-factly. "You deserve it. You're just as great as I am."

"I've never thought I'd live to hear that, Kurt Hummel saying there are other good cooks in this world besides him?!" Quinn gasped in mock shock.

"Shut up." Kurt said, but with no real heat behind it, rolling his eyes fondly. "But really, I'm happy for you." He added, smiling widely at her.

"Thank you. It'll be hard to top you, though." Quinn grinned. "Anyway, what are you two going to do next? You're currently both jobless." She asked, looking at him seriously.

"Blaine is thinking about taking _Tropicana_ 's offer, he turned them down when he chose _Le Palais_ , but they reached out to him again when they heard he's not going to LA after all." Kurt said, looking through the window, a pensive look on his face. "Executive chef."

"There's more to it than you're telling me." Quinn stated, studying him with calculating eyes, raising her eyebrow when he looked up at her, as if to say _I know you too._

"He's hesitating because he says he would prefer to work with me. And that would be amazing, but…" Kurt stopped, looking for the right wording.

"But there can only be one executive chef in the kitchen." Quinn supplied, once again surprising Kurt at how well she could read him. "And Kurt Hummel doesn't play second fiddle."

"Exactly. And Blaine says he's fine with being my sous-chef…"

"But you don't want to stay in the way of his dreams and career." Quinn ended for him once more, eliciting a huff from Kurt.

"He deserves to shine on his own." Kurt nodded, smiling softly, pride spreading through him at the thought of his boyfriend. "So, we have reached an impasse and whenever we try to talk about it, we end up in bed, trying to avoid talking about it." He said, grinning slightly, knowing well how ridiculous they were.

Quinn studied him for a minute, a thoughtful look on her face. "Maybe you should play by your own rules." She said slowly and when Kurt squinted his eyes, not understanding, she arched her eyebrow as if she was trying to challenge him. "There's no restaurant that would hire two executive chefs? Create one."

And suddenly, Dr. Michaels' words sounded in his head, the same ones that made him listen to his heart and go after Blaine.

 _It's the recipes you create yourself that are the best._

* * *

 **Only the epilogue left... Unbelievable, it seems like I started posting this fic yesterday!**

 **K.**


	14. Epilogue

**Here we are, the epilogue! I'd like to thank you all for reading and your lovely reviews, they always make me smile. I'd also like to thank my beta again, Ida, for her help with this fic. It's my first multichapter that it's complete, so it's a very special moment for me, and I'm so proud of this fic, I really loved writing it, it's been a blast!**

 **Now, I'd like to say something about my fics in general. I rarely use , only for _Burn With You_ and this fic, but there are MANY MORE of my fics on AO3. Most likely, I won't be using this site anymore, so please, check me out on AO3 - blackrose1002 - just like here. I will finish posting _Burn With You_ on here, but I won't be adding any new fics.**

 **Also, I'm open to prompts - if there's anything you'd like to read in this verse, some missing scenes, anything - send me an ask on tumblr and I'll think about it :)**

 **That's all, enjoy the epilogue and again, thank you for reading! :)**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 _ **One year later.**_

It took a lot of time. A lot of time, a lot of effort and tons, tons of work. The first step was to find the right place. After a long time of searching, they finally stumbled upon a big space, perfect for their needs, on the ground floor, on the corner of two streets. It needed a full renovation, it was ruined, but they immediately fell in love with it, so the choice was made. Quinn's husband, Noah ( _"man, call me Puck, even my wife calls me that"_ ) offered to take care of the renovations along with some of his friends and Kurt and Blaine were happy to have it done by someone they trusted.

Everything turned out beautifully, Kurt designing the interior himself, making it look cozy and homey. They weren't planning on opening an exclusive restaurant, they aimed for something a little more casual, yet still classy, trying to combine different kinds of food and styles together and the final look of the inside represented exactly that. After that, it was time for another step, and if they thought finding the right place was difficult, learning how to actually own a restaurant was even harder. Thankfully, with some help, they managed to figure everything out, hired the waiters, and, finally, one year after Quinn had suggested it, they were ready. The only thing left was the name, but that problem was solved by Emily who simply reminded them that they already had an idea for the name, and Kurt and Blaine in unison agreed that it was perfect.

And that's how _Blaine and Kurt and Emily's_ was born.

They decided to keep the bistro open for six days in the week, making Sunday their day off. They didn't want to work as late as they used to in _Le Palais_ , so they opened at noon and finished around eight in the evening, sometimes at nine on Fridays and Saturdays, when the bistro was crowded the most.

Kurt was sometimes afraid if working together wouldn't put their relationship at risk, but, every time, he worried unnecessarily. The system they developed at the bistro worked flawlessly.

Everything was perfect.

They were working, each of them preparing a separate dish, their backs touching as they worked at their stations, Kurt sneaking little glances over his shoulder to see what Blaine was doing, until, suddenly, Blaine turned his head at the same time, busting him. With a roll of his eyes, Kurt turned back to his food, but the temptation to check on Blaine was too strong to resist.

"You're gonna sear that first, right?" He asked without looking back, his voice slightly teasing.

"Yes, chef." Blaine replied and Kurt was sure he was rolling his eyes fondly. Swiftly, they turned around, their backs still touching, swapping the counters they were working on.

"Don't forget to reduce the sauce a little." Kurt commented, focused on the meat he was preparing.

"You're crossing the line, darling." Blaine said with a smile.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Blaine turned around, so they were facing the same table. "Look, your spoon is on my territory." He said, pointing to the counter and, sure enough, Kurt's spoon was lying just on the top of the red line they had used to divide their work space, mostly as a joke, but it turned out to be quite handy.

"Fine." Kurt huffed, removing the spoon and then gesturing to Blaine's sauce. "Look, I can't help if your reduction is a little thin, I have to say something."

"I wouldn't talk, your sabayon has lumps." Blaine fired right back with a smirk.

With a gasp and an incredulous look, Kurt grabbed the bowl and dipped his finger in it. "You're out of your mind." He said and licked his finger to taste the sauce. "It's perfect." He stated with a smug smile.

"I'll be the judge of that." Blaine replied and pulled Kurt into a deep kiss, making Kurt open his mouth instinctively, and, seconds later, he could feel Blaine's tongue slipping inside. Moaning softly, he wrapped his arms around Blaine, getting lost in the kiss, until he was brought back to reality by some whistles and clapping coming through the dining hall. When they had been designing the bistro, they decided to leave the kitchen uncovered, so everything they did was on full display.

Kurt pulled away, shaking his head with a silent laugh while Blaine licked his lips. "You're right, it is perfect." He commented with a grin.

"Glad to have your approval, chef." Kurt said, grinning right back and bumping their hips. Chuckling, Blaine pecked him on the cheek and got back to work, just as Emily appeared at the counter where the waiters used to pick up the plates for the customers, and Kurt handed her the plate of pancakes. Quinn, along with Puck and Beth were in the bistro that day, and Emily had insisted to be their personal server. Kurt watched with a smile as she walked to their table, setting the plate down and saying something to Quinn, gesturing vividly and the warmth spread through his chest. Emily loved their new restaurant and, if she could, she would probably never leave the place. Since they weren't working as late as in _Le Palais_ , they usually brought her to the bistro with them, they always were back home at ten at the latest, so everything was good, Emily was getting a good night's sleep, so there wasn't a risk of her falling asleep in class the next day. It felt so domestic and nice, coming home together and Kurt sometimes found himself thinking back about how he had never thought he would have a life like that, but now that it happened, he wouldn't have it any other way.

They had given up the pretenses six months after getting back together, Kurt sitting Blaine down and shyly suggesting that maybe there wasn't a point in Blaine paying for his apartment since he had been staying at Kurt's basically all the time. Of course, Blaine wouldn't be himself if he wasn't being a jerk, so he made Kurt spell it out, and after clarifying that yes, he wanted Blaine to officially move in, Blaine tackled him down and, after that, Kurt didn't remember much more. Later, he was thinking about his previous boyfriend, how the idea of moving in with him after two years of dating seemed unacceptable to him, and yet, here he was, asking Blaine to move in, barely six months into their relationship. But, with Blaine, everything was different. Everything was easier and nothing felt forced, and Kurt remembered the day they brought the last of Blaine's boxes to his apartment and how nothing could ever feel more right. The same feeling, the exact same warmth in his chest, came over him three months later, when he was walking by a jewelry shop and his eyes fell on the section with engagement rings.

He knew it was crazy. He knew it was fast. He also came home that day with a ring in his pocket, and the planning had begun.

They were both busy for the next few months, finalizing and organizing everything with the bistro, so it wasn't until they were officially open that Kurt found the time to polish up his plan and start to execute it. It had to be perfect.

One day, in May, when Blaine was running some errands on their day off, taking Emily with him, Kurt was alone in the apartment and he walked to the wardrobe, opening one of the drawers and dug out a ring box, hidden safely in the bottom. He opened it carefully, revealing the engagement ring, a silver band, simple, but so perfect at the same time that it made Kurt fall in love with it the moment he saw it on display in the jewelry shop. Feeling nervous all of sudden, he took a deep breath to calm himself. After all the planning, the day finally came. All Blaine knew was that they were going out that night and that Emily was staying over with Quinn and Puck, who eagerly offered their help when Kurt presented his plan, also giving him advice on some of the details. Emily knew all about it as well, squealing loudly when he had showed her the ring and, Kurt had to admit, she was doing a great job keeping his mission a secret. That's exactly why she went out to run errands with Blaine that day – she was supposed to keep him out of Kurt's hair for at least a few more hours, so he could make sure everything was going smoothly.

They didn't go out to eat in restaurants very often. Because of their job, they usually ended up talking about the food they ordered, how it was made, more often than not, exchanging comments about how they would make it better, so it never really felt like a day off. For this day, however, Kurt had made reservations at Blaine's favorite place (besides their own, of course), and, after that, he would take him somewhere else, the place where the ring would come into action. Kurt only hoped Blaine would be his oblivious self and wouldn't inquire too much about where they were heading.

The dinner went fantastic. They ordered their favorite food from the menu, managing not to analyze it too much. They talked about some silly stuff, laughing at some gossip from _Le Palais_ that Quinn provided them with regularly, enjoying the evening and Kurt couldn't help but get lost in Blaine's eyes from time to time, watching them glimmer in the soft lights of the candles in the dimmed restaurant.

When they left the restaurant, Blaine moved to hail a cab, but Kurt grabbed his shoulder to stop him. "I actually have something else planned for today." He said with a smile, dying inside from all the nerves, high fiving himself mentally for keeping his voice even.

"Oh, do tell." Blaine looked at him with an arched eyebrow, intrigued.

"It's a surprise. Come on." Kurt replied with a grin and, grabbing Blaine's hand, he started walking down the sidewalk. Their destination wasn't too far away, which was premeditated, of course, so it took them about fifteen minutes to get there. They reached a small theater and Blaine's eyes widened when Kurt pressed the knob of the door and it opened, even though the theater should definitely be closed at this hour.

"I want to show you something." Kurt said with a smile, holding the door open for Blaine.

"How did you manage to get us in here?" Blaine asked in awe, looking around with fascination as they walked through the empty building.

"I have connections." Kurt smirked, waggling his eyebrows. Truth be told, he knew that if he needed a place with a stage, he had to call Rachel, the server he worked with at _Le Palais._ It turned out that she was the best person he could have contacted, her boyfriend, Jesse, managing to get him access to the theater for as long as he needed that night.

"You remember that night, over a year ago, when you got me drunk in the restaurant after we were done with work?" Kurt asked suddenly, as they walked through the audience area and reached the stage.

"I didn't get you drunk, you did it all by yourself." Blaine retorted with a smirk. "But yeah, I do remember. Why?"

"We were talking about music and you said you had to hear me sing. But you have never mentioned it again."

"I know." Blaine nodded. "I didn't want to pressure you or make you do something you didn't want to, but felt you should, only to make me happy." He said softly and if Kurt hadn't already loved him with all of his heart, he would surely fall for him in that moment.

"Remember what I told you that night?" He asked.

Blaine cleared his throat. _"Maybe in your dreams, Anderson."_ He said, trying to imitate Kurt's voice, earning himself a light swat on the arm.

"Well, Anderson." Kurt drawled, walking up on the stage, Blaine's eyes widening in surprise and excitement. "Looks like your dream is about to come true."

The notes of the song Kurt had picked started playing, the song that always made him think of Blaine and his own struggles before he finally admitted his feelings for him.

 _You've been on my mind  
I grow fonder every day,  
Lose myself in time  
Just thinking of your face  
God only knows  
Why it's taken me so long  
To let my doubts go  
You're the only one that I want_

Kurt started singing slowly, his voice carrying around the empty theater, only having eyes for Blaine, who was standing still, looking at him in awe.

 _I don't know why I'm scared, I've been here before  
Every feeling, every word, I've imagined it all,  
You never know if you never try  
To forgive your past and simply be mine_

Squeezing his eyes shut, he thought about how he could easily not have the life he had. How close he was to actually losing Blaine, without ever telling him how much he meant to him, only because of his doubts and his past. Kurt could feel the tears prickling in his eyes, but he kept going, his voice growing louder and stronger as he reached the chorus. Those lines always hit him particularly hard, describing Kurt's feeling so perfectly that he didn't know how it was even possible.

 _I dare you to let me be your, your one and only  
Promise I'm worthy to hold in your arms  
So come on and give me the chance  
To prove that I'm the one who can  
Walk that mile until the end starts_

At this point, he could see the tears in Blaine's eyes and Kurt knew that he understood. Blaine always seemed to get him, he had him all figured out and it used to scare him, but now it only made him love Blaine more. And if he got the chance, he would spend the rest of his life proving it to him, proving that Blaine was the most precious thing that had ever happened to him and that there was nothing else he loved more.

 _I know it ain't easy, giving up your heart  
I know it ain't easy, giving up your heart_

He knew that, he really did. However, giving up his heart to Blaine was the best choice he had ever made in his life. Getting closer to the end of the song, he sang the chorus again, his voice powerful and full of emotions. When he reached the final note and the music slowly died down, Blaine made a move to get up on the stage, but Kurt raised his hands to stop him.

"Can you listen to me for a minute?" He asked, smiling through the tears, his voice shaky.

When Blaine nodded, he looked down at his feet and took a deep breath. "I used to think that the restaurant, the kitchen was everything I needed to be happy. I honestly believed that and I convinced myself that I didn't need anything else. Then, my life turned upside down. Suddenly, there was this dorky man, wearing ridiculous pants, dancing around my kitchen, serenading a quail he held in his hand." Kurt shook his head with a smile and he could hear Blaine chuckling. "If anyone told me then that I would even tolerate that guy, I would laugh in their face. Or stab them, depending on my mood." He said, eliciting another chuckle from Blaine. "But, somehow, that guy got so deep under my skin and made me reevaluate everything I thought I knew. About happiness, about love."

"Like I told you once before, you destroyed the walls that I had built around myself and you set me free. You made me feel things I have never felt before and you still make me fall in love with you every day, all over again. And I'm kind of hoping I'll be able to do this for the rest of my life." Taking the box out of his pocket, he dropped on his knee, making Blaine gasp, and looked him in the eyes, feeling his heart pound in his chest.

"I don't deserve you, Blaine, god knows I don't… But I can't live without you. So, Blaine Anderson, will you marry me?" He asked, holding his breath when Blaine didn't move and then, suddenly, Blaine was running up the stage, pulling Kurt up when he reached him, kissing him passionately.

"Yes, of course, yes." Blaine breathed out against Kurt's lips, holding his face, tears streaming down their cheeks. Sniffling, Kurt pulled away, taking the ring out of the box and slowly sliding it on Blaine's finger, his hands shaking until Blaine covered them with his own. Squeezing them comfortingly, he let go, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and pulling him closer.

"I love you so much." Blaine whispered before kissing him again, Kurt circling his neck with his arms, his nerves slowly melting away. "Fiancé." Blaine added with a grin when he pulled away, leaning his forehead against Kurt's.

Kurt couldn't help the bright laughter bubbling out of his chest, the fact that Blaine had said yes finally fully dawning on him. "I love you too, fiancé." He replied, feeling happier than he had ever been.

"And, god, Kurt, your voice, you're so talented." Blaine said, looking at him with awe, still holding him firmly. "Why aren't you singing more often?"

"After high school, I got so lost in cooking that I kind of lost the desire to do it." Kurt shrugged. "You made me want to sing again. Sorry it took me more than a year." He added with a sheepish smile.

"It was worth it." Blaine said quietly, pulling him in a tight hug. "So worth it."

Kurt smiled against Blaine's skin, face burrowed in the crook of his neck. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, inhaling the familiar scent of his boyfriend, _fiancé,_ he corrected giddily, smelling coffee and Blaine's cologne. "I'm the luckiest man in the world." He murmured, mostly to himself, but Blaine heard him, of course he did.

"No, I'm pretty sure that's me." He whispered back, his voice teasing.

"Don't fight me on this, you won't win." Kurt said and tilted his head to reach Blaine's ear. "You know, I've heard that sex after getting engaged is even better than before." He whispered, grinning wickedly at Blaine when he pulled back to look at him.

"Is that so?" Blaine asked with an arched eyebrow, his eyes darkening slightly. "Do you think it's true?"

"One way to find out."

* * *

Later that night, they were lying in bed, naked, trying to catch their breaths, exhausted after proving Kurt's earlier statement right. Wanting to be particularly thorough, they tested the theory a couple of times, just to be sure, in the bedroom, in the bathroom and then, again, in the bedroom. After their research, they came to the unanimous conclusion that it was true what they said - engagement definitely did make sex better.

His body relaxed and pleasantly pliant, Kurt lied on his back, his arms stretched above his head, staring at the ceiling. They definitely set a new record that night, first, Blaine spinning him around as soon as they entered the bedroom, pushing him up against the wall and fucking him hard against it, making Kurt scream so loudly he was sure all the neighbors could hear him. Then, what was supposed to be a quick shower, morphed into a long make out session which ended with Kurt getting down on his knees, blowing and fingering Blaine at the same time, jerking himself off in the process while Blaine came into his mouth, his cock hitting the back of Kurt's throat as Blaine moved his hips fervently, trying to fuck himself on Kurt's fingers. After that, Kurt had been sure they were done, but the innocent cuddling turned into a not so innocent rutting against each other and Kurt ended up crawling on top of Blaine and riding him lazily, Blaine thrusting up with every roll of Kurt's hips, his cock sliding in and out of Kurt slowly as they panted into each other's mouths, Kurt coming almost instantly after he felt Blaine throbbing and pulsing inside of him, his cock trapped between them spurting white streaks of cum onto their chests.

"What are you thinking about?" Blaine mumbled sleepily, rolling closer to Kurt to throw his right arm around him.

"I'm thinking about the things we've done and wondering how we're still alive." Kurt replied hoarsely, his throat still sore after round number two, in the bathroom. Speaking of sore, he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to sit properly on his ass for days. "Or maybe we died and we're in heaven."

"I'm pretty sure none of what we've done is allowed in heaven." Blaine muttered with closed eyes, pulling Kurt closer to him, apparently ready to call it a night.

Feeling the drying cum on his chest, Kurt winced. "We should clean up, I'm all covered in cum." He whined, but not making any move to get up. He was too tired, besides, Blaine's arm was pinning him down quite effectively.

"So am I and I don't care." Blaine replied, opening his eyes slowly. "Not my cum, I'm not moving." He added with a lazy smirk.

"Screw you."

"God, no. I love you, babe, but I don't think I can get it up, not even for your hot ass."

"I feel like I should be offended, but I don't think my hot ass would be able to take it, so we're good." Kurt mumbled, tilting his head and stretching to kiss the tip of Blaine's nose, accepting that neither of them would move any time soon. Blaine only hummed in response, already on his way to drifting off and Kurt smiled fondly at his fiancé, glancing down between them at Blaine's left hand, the ring on his finger glistening softly in the dark room. Sighing happily, he rolled onto his side, so he could be the little spoon, settling comfortably in Blaine's embrace, the arm around him tightening automatically when Blaine felt him moving. Slowly, Kurt fell asleep, feeling Blaine's warm body against his back and the puffs of his breath on the back of his neck.

Yes.

Everything was perfect.

 **The song used in this chapter - _One And Only,_ Adele**


End file.
